Revista de SIDA e investigación clínica

COVID-19 is a disease that is caused by a corona virus known as SARS CoV2.Its effects have been paramount world all over and more so among People living with HIV in developing countries. In Uganda, the institution of a lockdown on the directives of the president in abid to control community transmission of the virus exacerbated these effects upon the lives of people living with HIV. This meant that businesses were to be closed and majority was left jobless; food scarcity became an issue that hindered people living with HIV from taking their ARVs resulting into Non-adherence to their medication. On top of that, suspension of public transport hindered them from collecting their ARVs from their health facilities which contributed further to non-adherence and hence putting them at risk of contracting COVID-19 and other opportunistic infections like Sexually Transmitted Infections due to the reduced Immunity.

Background: In Cameroon, key populations (KP) have consistently been shown to be disproportionately affected by HIV and the rate of new infection is significantly high among them. In June 2019, Cameroon launched PrEP implementation through community-based organizations (CBO) for KP.

Method: Since June 28^th, 2019, five CBOs in Yaoundé and Douala have been offering daily oral PrEP to KP. Peer-leads monitor clients on PrEP with follow-up done at first visit, one month and every three months thereafter. PrEP uptake and retention were assessed at 3 and 6 months. Throughout implementation, qualitative data were collected to inform strategies to improve uptake, retention and mitigate challenges.