Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Global Fund, the largest multilateral funder of grants for global health systems has raised the alarm that deaths from HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, may surpass the deaths from COVID-19 due to prolonged disruptions in service delivery as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, impacting approximately three-quarters of HIV, TB and malaria programmes.
It also observed that, additional causes of disruption include COVID-related stigma and reluctance of health workers to attend to people suspected of having TB or malaria, which have same initial symptoms as COVID-19.
Also, patients not seeking health care services as usual due to fear of getting infected with COVID-19 as well as economic hardships caused by the pandemic are also responsible for the disruptions.
The Fund, however, said that result of its recent survey indicated challenges to prevention, testing and case finding for HIV, TB and malaria; cancelled or delayed prevention activities; and medical and laboratory staff being reassigned to the fight against COVID-19.
It also revealed that 85 percent of HIV programmes reported disruption to service delivery (18% with high or very high disruptions); 78 percent of TB programmes reported disruption to service delivery (17% with high or very high disruptions); 73 percent of malaria programmes reported disruption to service delivery (19% with high or very high disruptions).
Additionally, the survey found out that 22 percent of HIV and TB laboratory services are experiencing high or very high disruptions; indicating that, if people aren’t diagnosed, they can’t be put on treatment, and could continue to infect others.
While the survey suggested that supply chains are largely functioning, it added that 10 percent of HIV, 9 percent of TB and 6 percent of malaria programmes report shortages of key medical supplies and treatment, in addition to increasing number of countries that report disruptions to routine reporting systems, making it more challenging to monitor progress.
Executive Director of the Global Fund, Peter Sands, in a statement, said that qualitative data from the survey attributed the development to recent global lockdown, restriction on gatherings of people and transport stoppages.
He said: “We experienced similar effects before in Ebola outbreaks. We were worried that if lifesaving HIV, TB and malaria programmes are interrupted, additional deaths from those diseases could, well, outstrip the deaths from COVID-19 itself.
“Every year, programmes supported by the Global Fund partnership save more than five million lives. Disruptions to these programmes could have a catastrophic effect on the fight against HIV, TB and malaria.
“Also, recent modelling studies have shown that deaths from HIV, TB and malaria could double in the coming years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, thus wiping out many years of hard-fought gains, unless we can urgently provide health workers with the training, resources and protective equipment they need to safely continue their work.”
He announced that the Global Fund is providing immediate funding of up to US$1 billion to help countries fight COVID-19, mitigate the impact on lifesaving HIV, TB and malaria programs, and prevent fragile health systems from being overwhelmed.
“Countries and communities are devising new and innovative approaches to service delivery to enable them to be implemented safely, from virtual monitoring of TB treatment via smartphone applications, to dispensing multiple months of treatment to people with HIV and TB, and door-to-door delivery of critical supplies like mosquito nets.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is only now starting to accelerate in many low and middle-income countries, and needs will soar. We expect that our initial funding will be largely deployed by the end of June. Additional funding is critically needed to fight COVID-19, and to adapt HIV, TB and malaria programs. If not, many more lives will be lost.”