Evidence

COVID-19 has the potential to cause substantial disruptions to health services, with cases overburdening the health system or response measures limiting usual programmatic activities. This study aims to quantify the additional loss of life over the next 5 years due to disruptions to HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria services in low-income and middle-income countries with high burdens of these diseases.  The study has found that in high-burden settings, deaths due to HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria over 5 years could increase by up to 10%, 20%, and 36%, respectively, compared with if there was no COVID-19 pandemic. The greatest impact on HIV was estimated to be from interruption to antiretroviral therapy, which could occur during a period of high health system demand. For tuberculosis, the greatest impact would be from reductions in timely diagnosis and treatment of new cases. Maintaining the most critical prevention activities and healthcare services for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria could substantially reduce the overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The insights from this study could be helpful for policy makers. Click here to read the study.