The HIV epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic: a double tragedy for Sub-Saharan African women

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dc.contributor.authorMurewanhema, Grant
dc.contributor.authorMusuka, Godfrey
dc.contributor.authorDenhere, Knowledge
dc.contributor.authorMulqueeny, Delarise
dc.contributor.authorDzinamarira, Tafadzwa
dc.coverageSouth Africa
dc.coverage.conferenceissn
dc.date.accessioned2026-03-26T11:45:52Z
dc.date.available2026-03-26T11:45:52Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.departmentNameSocial Work
dc.description.abstractAfter four decades of the HIV epidemic, women from Sub-Saharan Africa remain at a differentially high risk of acquisition. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) statistics show that the majority of HIV infections occur in this population and region. Evidence from previous humanitarian crises demonstrated adverse maternal consequences as a result of neglect for the provision of essential maternal, sexual and reproductive health services. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a similar effect, including an additional risk of HIV acquisition amongst women in Sub-Saharan Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated the risk of Sub-Saharan Africa women to HIV infection because of a multitude of factors including child marriages, teenage pregnancies, dropping out of school, increase in incidence of sexual and gender-based violence and reduced access to preventive and treatment services for HIV and sexually transmitted infections. These include provision of care for rape and sexual and gender-based violence victims and provision of pre-exposure and postexposure prophylaxis for HIV and other STIs. Failure to urgently restore and maintain robust HIV prevention and treatment during the ongoing COVID-19pandemic poses a risk of reversing the gains made over the years in reducing the incidence and morbidity from HIV amongst the population of Sub-Saharan Africa women. There is need for an urgent and robust discourse to formulate effective interventions for protecting women and girls living in Sub-Saharan Africa from an aggravated risk of HIV infection during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and other future humanitarian crises.
dc.facultyFaculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
dc.identifier.citationMurewanhema, G., Musuka, G., Denhere, K., Mulqueeny, D. and Dzinamarira, T. 2022. The HIV epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic: a double tragedy for Sub-Saharan African women. African Journal of Primary Health Care and Family Medicine, 14(1), pp.1-3.
dc.identifier.issn2071-2936 (online)
dc.identifier.issn2071-2928 (print)
dc.identifier.otherhttps://doi.org/10.4102/phcfm.v14i1.3397
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10530/59037
dc.inproceedingsissn
dc.issuenumber14 / 1
dc.keynoteissn
dc.language.isoEnglish
dc.pages1 - 3
dc.peerreviewedYes
dc.publisherAOSIS Publishing
dc.subjectHIV prevention
dc.subjectCOVID-19
dc.subjectWomen
dc.subjectSub-Saharan Africa
dc.subjectDisease burden
dc.titleThe HIV epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic: a double tragedy for Sub-Saharan African women
dc.title.journalAfrican Journal of Primary Health Care and Family Medicine
dc.typeJournal Article
dspace.entity.typePublication
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