Access to Healthcare and Harm Reduction Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic for People Who Use Drugs

Stowe MJ 1 , Calvey T , Scheibein F , Arya S , Saad NA , Shirasaka T Show all authors , Dannatt L , Ghosh A , Yee A , Ratta-Apha W , Vadivel R , Siste K , Shah B , Ramalho R , Narasimha VL , Delic M , Peyron E , Onoria JLG , Pant SB , Boujraf S , Grandinetti P , Morgan N

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa (MJS); School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa (TC); School of Health Sciences, Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland (FS); State Drug Dependence Treatment centre, Institute of Mental Health, Pt BDS University of health Sciences, Rohtak, India (SA); State Drug Dependence Treatment centre, Ain Shams University, Egypt (NAS); Department of Psychiatry, Teine Keijinkai Hospital, Japan (TS); Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa (LD); Drug De-addiction and Treatment Centre and Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India (AG); Department of Psychological Medicine, University Malaya Centre of Addiction Sciences (UMCAS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Malaysia (AY); Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand (WRA); Department of Mental Health and Addictions, Waikato District Health Board (WDHB), Hamilton, New Zealand (RV); Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia-Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Indonesia (KS); Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Nepal (BS); Department of Social and Community Health, School of Population Health, The University of Auckland. Auckland, New Zealand (RR); Centre for Addiction Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India (VLN); Center for Treatment of Drug Addiction, University Psychiatric Clinic Ljubljana, Slovenia (MD); AddiPsy, Lyon, France (EP); Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Makerere University, Uganda (JLGO); Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Tribhuvan University Teaching hospital, Nepal (SBP); Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Sidi Mohamed ben Abdellah University of Fez, Morocco (SB); ASL 4 Teramo, Department of Territorial Services, Services for Addictions (SerD), Italy (PG); Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa (NM)
J Addict Med, 2020 12;14(6):e287-e289.
PMID: 33009167 DOI: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000753

Abstract

: Globally, there are concerns about access to healthcare and harm reduction services for people who use drugs (PWUD) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Members from the Network of Early Career Professionals working in Addiction Medicine shared their experiences of providing treatment to PWUD during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on these qualitative reports, we highlight the similarities and discrepancies in access to services for PWUD in 16 countries under COVID-10 restrictions. In most countries reported here, efforts have been made to ensure continued access to services, such as mobilising opioid agonist maintenance treatment and other essential medicines to patients. However, due to travel restrictions and limited telemedicine services, several Network of Early Career Professionals working in Addiction Medicine members from lower-resourced countries experienced challenges with providing care to their patients during periods of COVID-19 lock-down. The insights provided in this commentary illustrate how the COVID-19 lock-down restrictions have impacted access to services for PWUD.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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