Browsing by Author "Moyo, Reuben"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Restricted
    Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on patient retention and resource capacity in HIV care clinics in Blantyre urban
    (Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, 2021-02-16) Moyo, Reuben
    Type of study: This is an interrupted time series retrospective study involving the same population of adults patronizing HIV services in four urban health facilities in Blantyre whose outcomes would be measured before and after the declaration of COVID-19 as a state of disaster in Malawi. Problem COVID-19 pandemic has led to many socioeconomic challenges in addition to the lives lost and disability caused by the illness itself. Measures such as lockdowns and quarantines have led to decreased access to health services due to restricted movements and interruptions in supply chain. Objectives: The broad aim of this study is to determine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on patient retention and resource capacity in HIV care clinics in Blantyre urban before and during COVID-19 pandemic. This will consider the numbers of patients attending or failing to attend their ART clinic visits in these two periods. It will also assess the clinics capacity to offer uninterrupted HIV services during the pandemic with possible explanations of the observations. Methodology: This study compares HIV treatment service utilization during similar months before and after declaration of state of disaster in Malawi which is the exposure. The outcomes are observed over a period of six months from April to September, 2020, and are compared to a similar period in 2019 to determine the differences. The data will be obtained from patient records at the participating health facilities as well as input from the clinic staff through questionnaire interviews. Expected findings: The findings from this study will help to understand the short-term impacts of COVID- 19 pandemic on the HIV service delivery and may provide insights for larger studies to be conducted based on the findings. Dissemination: Results from this study will be disseminated to various stake holders such as COMREC, participating health facilities, Blantyre District Health Office, M-HIRST, research conferences and various peer reviewed journals.