The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria says that in 2020, Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on prevention programs against the three diseases.
According to the foundation's report, HIV testing has dropped by 22% compared to 2019 resulting in a higher risk of infection and a delay in diagnosis and initiation of treatment.
The pandemic also impacted the fight against tuberculosis. The num-ber of patients treated for multidrug-resistant variants (1) has de-creased by 19% in one year. This rate increases to 37% for extensive-ly drug-resistant tuberculosis (2) and 16% for HIV-positive tuberculosis patients already on antiretrovirals.
Less affected by the pandemic, the fight against malaria recorded a 17% increase in the number of mosquito nets distributed. However, the number of screenings for the disease deteriorated by 4.3%.
(1) The bacterium is resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most effective first-line drugs against TB.
(2) the bacteria develop additional resistance to fluoroquinolones and to one of the second-line injectable anti-TB drugs (amikacin, capreomycin, kanamycin).
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