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Dr. Godfrey Woelk

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Global Implementation Research Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, 1140 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036, USA
Interests: HIV prevention and care; maternal health; hypertensive diseases of pregnancy; child health and health systems research

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recent events such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic have had significant effects on public health worldwide. These dual threats have the potential to act synergistically, with severe impacts. At the same time, major advances have been made to mitigate the worst effects and prevent impacts on public health. These include the rapid development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, especially those based on mRNA technology, as well the movement to more “green” technologies such as solar and wind.

Countries, groups, and individuals who are disadvantaged may be even more affected by these changes. Poor countries may be impacted by droughts and severe storms, with resulting disruptions in food supplies, accommodation, etc., precipitating movements in population. This includes people living with HIV (PLHIV). This Special Issue on HIV/AIDS and Public Health is focused on examining the following questions:

How will climate change, including efforts to mitigate its effects, affect HIV/AIDS and PLHIV?
How might climate change and the risk of infectious disease pandemics together affect PLHIV and HIV/AIDS?
Can the monitoring and evaluation strategies developed for COVID-19 be utilized for HIV/AIDS?
How might the development of mRNA technologies be utilized in the development of an HIV vaccine?
Will the pathobiology and epidemiology of the HIV virus be significantly transformed by climate change and interaction with other viruses (e.g., SARS-CoV-2)?

Prof. Dr. Godfrey Woelk
Guest Editor

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Keywords

HIV/AIDS
HIV prevention and care
HIV virus
vaccines
public health

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 330 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

“Everything…Fell Apart Once COVID-19 Hit”—Leveraging the COVID-19 Response to Strengthen Public Health Activities toward Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Qualitative Study

by Samantha A. Devlin, Moctezuma Garcia, Kayo Fujimoto, Camden Hallmark, Marlene McNeese, John Schneider and Moira C. McNulty

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(22), 15247; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph192215247 - 18 Nov 2022

Viewed by 1437

Abstract

COVID-19 caused widespread disruption of activities for Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE). In this study we assessed public health perspectives on leveraging the COVID-19 response to advance the goals of EHE. We conducted a qualitative study with 33 public health partners in the Midwestern and Southern United States from October 2020 to February 2022. Participants were asked how the strategies developed for COVID-19 could be applied to the HIV epidemic. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and examined using rapid qualitative analysis. Four themes emerged: (1) Rebuilding teams and adapting culture for success in EHE activities; (2) Recognizing and modernizing the role of disease intervention specialists (DIS); (3) Enhanced community awareness of the public health role in disease response and prevention; and (4) Leveraging COVID-19 data systems and infrastructure for EHE activities. The COVID-19 pandemic called attention to the dearth of public health funding and outdated information technology (IT) infrastructure used for HIV activities. It also led to greater public health knowledge, including increased familiarity with partner services and molecular epidemiology of HIV, and opportunities to develop new data systems for surveillance that can be applied to efforts for EHE. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue HIV/AIDS and Public Health)

12 pages, 3417 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparing HIV Post-Exposure Prophylaxis, Testing, and New Diagnoses in Two Australian Cities with Different Lockdown Measures during the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Eric P. F. Chow, Jason J. Ong, Basil Donovan, Rosalind Foster, Tiffany R. Phillips, Anna McNulty and Christopher K. Fairley

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(20), 10814; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182010814 - 14 Oct 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2057

Abstract

Australia introduced a national lockdown on 22 March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Melbourne, but not Sydney, had a second COVID-19 lockdown between July and October 2020. We compared the number of HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) prescriptions, HIV tests, and new HIV diagnoses during these lockdown periods. The three outcomes in 2020 were compared to 2019 using incidence rate ratio. There was a 37% and 46% reduction in PEP prescriptions in Melbourne and Sydney, respectively, with a larger reduction during lockdown (68% and 57% reductions in Melbourne’s first and second lockdown, 60% reduction in Sydney’s lockdown). There was a 41% and 32% reduction in HIV tests in Melbourne and Sydney, respectively, with a larger reduction during lockdown (57% and 61% reductions in Melbourne’s first and second lockdowns, 58% reduction in Sydney’s lockdown). There was a 44% and 47% reduction in new HIV diagnoses in Melbourne and Sydney, respectively, but no significant reductions during lockdown. The reduction in PEP prescriptions, HIV tests, and new HIV diagnoses during the lockdown periods could be due to the reduction in the number of sexual partners during that period. It could also result in more HIV transmission due to substantial reductions in HIV prevention measures during COVID-19 lockdowns. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue HIV/AIDS and Public Health)

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