The role of the social sciences and humanities in pandemic preparedness responses: insights gained from COVID-19, HIV and AIDS and related epidemics

Afr J AIDS Res. 2023 Dec;22(4):269-275. doi: 10.2989/16085906.2023.2262977. Epub 2023 Dec 20.ABSTRACTThe COVID-19 pandemic, particularly from 2020 to mid-2022, debilitated the management of the HIV epidemic in Africa. The multiple effects included well-documented HIV service interruptions, curtailment of HIV prevention programmes, the associated marked increase in both the risk for HIV infection among key populations and vulnerability of sub-populations (e.g. adolescent girls and young women) who are the focus of these programmes and - as importantly but less well-documented - the diverse negative socio-economic effects that accentuate HIV risk and vulnerability generally (e.g. loss of earnings, gender-based violence, stigma, police harassment of people during "lockdowns"). The global biomedical response to COVID-19 was necessary and remarkable for mitigating the bio-physical impacts of the pandemic (e.g. wide-spread surveillance coupled with rapid updates on the epidemiology of infections, rapid development of vaccines and revisions of treatment). However, drawing upon the widespread criticisms of state responses to the socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and of "lockdowns" themselves, this article elaborates a core argument within those criticisms, namely that key lessons learnt during the HIV and AIDS and other pandemics were ignored, at least during the early stages of COVID-19. Our critique is that better integration of the social sciences and humanities in r...
Source: African Journal of AIDS Research - Category: African Health Authors: Source Type: research