How COVID-19 Disrupted the Fight Against HIV

He tried to see his doctor every three months to talk about his treatment. He would visit four times a year to inquire about his medication, discuss his side effects, and make sure he was not spreading the disease to his partner.

Cantero, a lawyer in California, has only been able to see his doctor twice since the COVID-19 Pandemic hit. He says it has been difficult to get an appointment due to the fact that many offices have transitioned to Telehealth and that it pales in comparison to what he received before the Pandemic. His routine for treating his HIV has been disrupted, he says, and he worries that other people have the same experience.

With the stigma surrounding HIV, some people don't feel comfortable talking to someone they can't see. People are going to feel less enfranchised to engage with the sources that are available withcommunities of color that already feel disenfranchised with the medical community

According to a report released by the LGBTQ media advocacy group, Cantero is not the only one. The report found that the COVID-19 epidemic disrupted HIV prevention measures and patient care in the United States. Services for HIV patients became limited, communities became hesitant about health-care services, and the rate at which HIV tests were administered dramatically declined as a result of COVID-19 precautions.

In June, the CDC reported that the number of new HIV diagnoses in the United States decreased from the year before. In a study published in the journal the Lancet Regional Health–Americas in March, it was found that HIV testing numbers in health care systems in Louisiana, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Washington decreased by 98% from the year before to the year after. In a third study of patients at a Boston community health center published in the Journal of the International Aids Society in 2020, it was found that the number of patients who began to take pre-exposure prophylactics, orPrEP, decreased from January to April of 2020.

There is a risk of an HIV resurgence in the U.S. according to the report. Sarah Kate Ellis is the President and CEO of GLAAD. We need people to wake up and realize that we can walk and chew gum together. While not forgetting about our most marginalized people, we can deal with a major epidemic.

Lessons learned

The HIV epidemic and the COVID-19 Pandemic interact with each other in ways that can be fatal.

Being positive for HIV is associated with a higher risk of death and disease. The negative impact of COVID-19 has been compounded by systematic racism, stigma, and economic disenfranchisement, limiting access to adequate medical care. A study published in the journal AIDS Reviews found that one HIV prevention and treatment clinic in New York City that had seen more than 2,000 patients face-to-face in early March 2020 had shrunk to under 100 per day in May 2020. The results were not as good as they were with other clinics.

Many patients were able to access care through telehealth. A survey of 202 patients with HIV at a clinic in San Francisco, California, published in the journal AIDS Patient Care and STDs in July 2021, found that 80% of respondents said they were equally or more likely to attend a telehealth visit as an in- person appointment. Patients dealt with technical issues, barriers in digital literacy, and their distrust of speaking about stigmatized issues in a digital setting, which made the transition difficult. A survey published in the journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses found that 40% of the patients at the HIV clinic in Georgia had experienced delays getting follow-up appointments, and 34% had difficulty getting their viral load measured. "Telemedicine provides us with a variety of options and a variety of providers," says Shanell McGoy, senior director of public affairs and corporate citizenship. There is no better way to establish a relationship between a provider and a client.

Over the past two years, there have been disruptions in HIV care and prevention. The number of HIV diagnoses in San Francisco increased for the first time in nine years in September.

As communities prepare for the next health crisis, GLAAD lays out five lessons learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic. They want more funding from a variety of sources, particularly in communities that might have limited access to accurate information on the risk and prevention of HIV. They want providers to offer a variety of services in one location instead of directing patients to different locations for different services. They suggest a streamlining of public-health campaigns using clear, simple language that talks about the COVID-19 vaccine and HIV prevention. The medical crisis should not be overshadowed by the other, according to GLAAD.

The lawyer in California says that there is a level of invisibility surrounding HIV. He made any other concerns related to his health take the back seat when he reflected on the past two years.

If you want to write to Madeleine, you can email her at madeleine.carlisle@time.com.