Contribution of PEPFAR-Supported HIV and TB Molecular Diagnostic Networks to COVID-19 Testing Preparedness in 16 Countries

The US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) supports molecular HIV and tuberculosis diagnostic networks and information management systems in low- and middle-income countries. We describe how national programs leveraged these PEPFAR-supported laboratory resources for SARS-CoV-2 testing during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sent a spreadsheet template consisting of 46 indicators for assessing the use of PEPFAR-supported diagnostic networks for COVID-19 pandemic response activities during April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, to 27 PEPFAR-supported countries or regions. A total of 109 PEPFAR-supported centralized HIV viral load and early infant diagnosis laboratories and 138 decentralized HIV and TB sites reported performing SARS-CoV-2 testing in 16 countries. Together, these sites contributed to >3.4 million SARS-CoV-2 tests during the 1-year period. Our findings illustrate that PEPFAR-supported diagnostic networks provided a wide range of resources to respond to emergency COVID-19 diagnostic testing in 16 low- and middle-income countries.

Citing Articles

Pediatric and adolescent HIV viral load coverage and suppression rates in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in 12 PEPFAR-supported sub-Saharan African countries in 2019 and 2020.

Carpenter D, Hast M, Buono N, Hrapcak S, Sato K, Mrina R PLOS Glob Public Health. 2024; 4(8):e0003513.

PMID: 39088480 PMC: 11293699. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0003513.

Measuring training effectiveness of laboratory biosafety program offered at African Center for Integrated Laboratory Training in 22 President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief supported countries (2008-2014).

Shrivastava R, Stevens T, Westerman L, Bressler D, van Schalkwyk E, Bressler C Trop Med Health. 2023; 51(1):65.

PMID: 37990251 PMC: 10662895. DOI: 10.1186/s41182-023-00557-1.

Strengthening diagnostic capacity in Africa as a key pillar of public health and pandemic preparedness.

Mfuh K, Abanda N, Titanji B PLOS Glob Public Health. 2023; 3(6):e0001998.

PMID: 37310963 PMC: 10263319. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001998.

Vital Signs: Progress Toward Eliminating HIV as a Global Public Health Threat Through Scale-Up of Antiretroviral Therapy and Health System Strengthening Supported by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief - Worldwide, 2004-2022.

Chun H, Dirlikov E, Cox M, Sherlock M, Obeng-Aduasare Y, Sato K MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2023; 72(12):317-324.

PMID: 36952290 PMC: 10042617. DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7212e1.

Global Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Cassell C, Raghunathan P, Henao O, Pappas-DeLuca K, Remy W, Dokubo E Emerg Infect Dis. 2022; 28(13):S4-S7.

PMID: 36502408 PMC: 9745249. DOI: 10.3201/eid2813.221733.

References

Soko R, Burke R, Feasey H, Sibande W, Nliwasa M, Henrion M . Effects of Coronavirus Disease Pandemic on Tuberculosis Notifications, Malawi. Emerg Infect Dis. 2021; 27(7):1831-1839. PMC: 8237899. DOI: 10.3201/eid2707.210557. View

Hans L, Steegen K, Ketseoglou I, Mahlumba Z, Cassim N, Wiggill T . Preparing for the next pandemic: Lessons from rapid scale-up of SARS-CoV-2 testing in a South African high-throughput automated HIV molecular laboratory. Int J Infect Dis. 2021; 110:1-3. PMC: 8205292. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.06.019. View

Aziz A, Raqib R, Khan W, Rahman M, Haque R, Alam M . Integrated control of COVID-19 in resource-poor countries. Int J Infect Dis. 2020; 101:98-101. PMC: 7480448. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.09.009. View

Nkengasong J . Let Africa into the market for COVID-19 diagnostics. Nature. 2020; 580(7805):565. DOI: 10.1038/d41586-020-01265-0. View

Kogoj R, Kmetic P, Ostrbenk Valencak A, Fujs Komlos K, Seme K, Sagadin M . Real-Life Head-to-Head Comparison of Performance of Two High-Throughput Automated Assays for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Nasopharyngeal Swabs: The Alinity m and cobas 6800 SARS-CoV-2 Assays. J Mol Diagn. 2021; 23(8):920-928. PMC: 8131180. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoldx.2021.05.003. View

Kavanagh M, Erondu N, Tomori O, Dzau V, Okiro E, Maleche A . Access to lifesaving medical resources for African countries: COVID-19 testing and response, ethics, and politics. Lancet. 2020; 395(10238):1735-1738. PMC: 7252104. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31093-X. View

Hirschhorn J, Kegl A, Dickerson T, Glen Jr W, Xu G, Alden J . Verification and Validation of SARS-CoV-2 Assay Performance on the Abbott 2000 and Alinity Systems. J Clin Microbiol. 2021; 59(5). PMC: 8091852. DOI: 10.1128/JCM.03119-20. View

Nichols K, Girdwood S, Inglis A, Ondoa P, Sy K, Benade M . Bringing Data Analytics to the Design of Optimized Diagnostic Networks in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Process, Terms and Definitions. Diagnostics (Basel). 2020; 11(1). PMC: 7823670. DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics11010022. View

Degli-Angeli E, Dragavon J, Huang M, Lucic D, Cloherty G, Jerome K . Validation and verification of the Abbott RealTime SARS-CoV-2 assay analytical and clinical performance. J Clin Virol. 2020; 129:104474. PMC: 7395853. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104474. View

10.

Hasell J, Mathieu E, Beltekian D, Macdonald B, Giattino C, Ortiz-Ospina E . A cross-country database of COVID-19 testing. Sci Data. 2020; 7(1):345. PMC: 7545176. DOI: 10.1038/s41597-020-00688-8. View