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Virtual meeting on the impact of the COVID-19 on HIV programmes in the ECOWAS region

27 July 2020

The West Africa Health Organisation (WAHO) organized, with support from USAID and UNAIDS, an online meeting with stakeholders in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region—representatives  of National AIDS Commissions, national AIDS and TB Coordinators in the Ministry of Health, and representatives from USAID, UN Agencies, civil society and the Global Fund—to share experiences and actions taken to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on HIV programmes.

The discussions stressed the critical role that civil society is playing in mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 on HIV prevention, testing and treatment programmes, while at the same time, promoting the safety of staff and programme beneficiaries.  A call was made for more political, technical, and financial support from governments and partners for community responses through delegation of tasks and decentralization of services.

Participants also agreed on the need to strengthen and pooling of laboratory resources and health products at the sub regional level as well as the need to establish a humanitarian corridor for the secure movement of health actors between borders and within countries specially in the multiple fragile situations in the region.  

Other recommendations included expanding differentiated models of testing and care such as multi-month dispensing of HIV treatment and devising more effective ways to reach those left behind with equitable public and community services, including social safety nets, livelihood and economic empowerment programs, to mitigate both health and socio economic impact of COVID-19 and HIV.

The efficacy of using promising ICT innovations to reach key and vulnerable populations and to address critical programme and community needs, has been evidenced in all countries. A number of good practices were presented including the introduction or expansion of community antiretroviral distribution in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal;  the increased use of peer supporters to improve linkages to care and create demand for services in Ghana; the virtual sensitization of key populations in Guinea Bissau; the use of WhatsApp to support counselling of people living with HIV in Togo;  with the closure of bars, the renting of houses for sensitization activities and distribution of condoms in Guinea; the piloting of self- testing in Liberia; the opening of a hotline to communicate with people living with HIV, TB patients and key populations in Niger; the loan of antiretroviral drugs from The Gambia to Guinea Bissau to respond to stock outs; or the establishment of a supply chain situation room to ensure non-disruption in supply of HIV commodities at facility-level in Nigeria.