Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on HIV testing services in Malawi: an interrupted time series analysis.

: Restrictions on public gatherings and movement to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 may have disrupted access and availability of HIV services in Malawi. We quantified the impact of these restrictions on HIV testing services in Malawi.: We conducted an interrupted time series analysis of routine aggregated programme data from 808 public and private, adult and paediatric health facilities across rural and urban communities in Malawi between January 2018 and March 2020 (pre-restrictions) and April to December 2020 (post restrictions), with April 2020 as the month restrictions took effect.

Patient and health facility attributes associated with retention and virologic suppression in private for-profit health facilities in Nigeria.

Background: In Nigeria, private for-profit health facilities present an opportunity to achieve the UNAIDS 95-95-95 HIV targets because of their reach and patronage. However, little is known about determinants of outcomes in these facilities. This study describes patient outcomes and the patient and health facility characteristics associated with these outcomes in adults receiving HIV treatment in private facilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Benue and Nasarawa states in north-central Nigeria.

Is social media, as a main source of information on COVID-19, associated with perceived effectiveness of face mask use? Findings from six sub-Saharan African countries.

Background: The use of face masks as a public health approach to limit the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been the subject of debate. One major concern has been the spread of misinformation via social media channels about the implications of the use of face masks. We assessed the association between social media as the main COVID-19 information source and perceived effectiveness of face mask use.