Meet Three Health Workers In Central America Who Won ' t Let COVID-19 Stand In the Way of HIV Care

By Claudia Guzm án A nurse takes escorts a client to health services in Guatemala. Photo by Anna Watts for IntraHealth International.April 08, 2021Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, health workers in Central America have been working to ensure all people living with HIV have access to health care. In their communities throughout the region, they’re delivering medicines and adapting to new ways of providing services to the most vulnerable populations during the pandemic.Here’s how.Home visits in GuatemalaPedro (not his real name) is a university student, who, according to his medical record, lives in Alotenango in the Guatemalan district of Sacatepéquez, 14 kilometers from the Hermano Pedro de Betancourt Hospital HIV Clinic (UAI).The clinic provides services for people living with HIV in Sacatepéquez and its surrounding areas, such as Guatemala City, Escuintla, and Chimaltenango. When health workers at UAI noticed that Pedro wasn’t attending his appointments, they called him to find out why and check up on his health. This is one of the ways community liaisons at the clinic bring back clients who have been lost to follow-up or abandoned their treatment during the pandemic.But their phone calls to Pedro were unsuccessful. When health workers couldn’t reach him over the phone, they coordinated with Fabricio, a community liaison, to conduct a home visit." I no longer live in Alotenango,” Pedro explained when Fabricio tracked him ...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: HIV & AIDS COVID-19 World Health Worker Week Source Type: news