INTRODUCTION: Health service use among the public can decline during outbreaks and had been predicted among low and middle-income countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) started implementing public health measures across Kin...shasa, including strict lock-down measures in the Gombe health zone.
METHODS: Using monthly time series data from the DRC Health Management Information System (January 2018 to December 2020) and interrupted time series with mixed effects segmented Poisson regression models, we evaluated the impact of the pandemic on the use of essential health services (outpatient visits, maternal health, vaccinations, visits for common infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases) during the first wave of the pandemic in Kinshasa. Analyses were stratified by age, sex, health facility and lockdown policy (i.e, Gombe vs other health zones).
RESULTS: Health service use dropped rapidly following the start of the pandemic and ranged from 16% for visits for hypertension to 39% for visits for diabetes. However, reductions were highly concentrated in Gombe (81% decline in outpatient visits) relative to other health zones. When the lock-down was lifted, total visits and visits for infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases increased approximately twofold. Hospitals were more affected than health centres. Overall, the use of maternal health services and vaccinations was not significantly affected.
CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in important reductions in health service utilizsation in Kinshasa, particularly Gombe. Lifting of lock-down led to a rebound in the level of health service use but it remained lower than pre-pandemic levels.
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Neurology and COVID-19. Scientific report 29 September 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the inadequacy of investments in public health, the persistence of profound economic and social inequalities and the fragility of many key global systems and approaches.
The UNAIDS 2020 global report is a call to action. It highlights the scale of the HIV epidemic and how it runs along the fault lines of inequalities.
UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic shows that 2020 targets will not be met because of deeply unequal success; COVID-19 risks blowing HIV progress way off course. Missed targets have resulted in 3.5 million more HIV infections and 820 000 more AIDS-related deaths since 2015 than if the world w...as on track to meet the 2020 targets. In addition, the response could be set back further, by 10 years or more, if the COVID-19 pandemic results in severe disruptions to HIV services.
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PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217693 June 7, 2019
Journal of Infection and Public Health 12 (2019) 213–223
Editorial Review
AIDS 2019, 33:1411–1420
Zhou et al. Int J Ment Health Syst (2019) 13:10 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-019-0263-1
Tokar et al. Health Research Policy and Systems (2019) 17:23 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-019-0415-4
Yu et al. BMC Public Health (2018) 18:825 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5731-z
Research Article
UNAIDS 2018 / Guidance
Guidance for policy-makers, and people living with, at risk of or affected by HIV
International Journal of Current Research Vol. 10, Issue, 04, pp.68266-68270, April, 2018
ISSN: 0975-833X
BMC Public Health, Volume 18, Article number: 303 (2018)
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5208-0
Published: 02 March 2018
A workshop methodology for children, young people and adults
The “Tree of Life” is a psychosocial support tool based on narrative practices that is designed to help participants accept the hardships of their past and identify the strengths that can help them achieve a better future. It uses th...e different parts of a tree as metaphors to represent the different parts of our lives. The workshop generally takes one day.
Participants draw their own “Tree of Life” in which they get to speak of their ‘roots” (where they come from), their skills and knowledge, their hopes and dreams and the special people in their lives
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Dziva Chikwari et al. Implementation Science (2018) 13:70 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-018-0762-5
PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0183180 October 9, 2017
Frontiers in Public Health | www.frontiersin.org 1 June 2017 | Volume 5 | Article 127