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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health

Sec. Health Economics

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1530782

IMPACT OF THE SARS-COV-2 PANDEMIC ON ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES IN ANGOLA: A FOCUS ON DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT SERVICES FOR TUBERCULOSIS

Provisionally accepted
Susanna Caminada Susanna Caminada 1Roberto Benoni Roberto Benoni 1,2,3*Maria Grazia Dente Maria Grazia Dente 2Claudia Robbiati Claudia Robbiati 1,2Joaquim Tomas Joaquim Tomas 4Giulia Natali Giulia Natali 4Luca De Simeis Luca De Simeis 4Nsuka Da Silvia Nsuka Da Silvia 4Neusa Lazary Neusa Lazary 5Paulo Siene Tienabe Paulo Siene Tienabe 6Giovanni Putoto Giovanni Putoto 3Marianna Costanzo Marianna Costanzo 3Fabio Manenti Fabio Manenti 3Maria Elena Tosti Maria Elena Tosti 2
  • 1 Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Lazio, Italy
  • 2 National Center for Global Health, National Institute of Health (ISS), Rome, Lazio, Italy
  • 3 Doctors with Africa CUAMM, Padova, Italy
  • 4 Doctors with Africa CUAMM, Luanda, Angola
  • 5 Public Health Department, Bureau of Public Health of Luanda (Gabinete Provincial de Saúde de Luanda), Luanda, Angola
  • 6 Programa Nacional de Controlo da Tuberculose (PNCT), Luanda, Angola

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic had a profound impact on healthcare systems worldwide. In sub-Saharan Africa, it significantly affected several health services for infectious diseases such as HIV; however, less is known about its impact on Tuberculosis (TB). This study aimed to assess the pandemic's impact on access to health services in Angola, focusing on diagnosis and treatment services for TB.Methods: An observational study combining data from routine statistics and surveys based on ad-hoc questionnaires was conducted on TB and non-TB services between 2018 and 2022. On routine data, temporal trends were analyzed comparing different non TB-and TB-specific indicators across the five-year period using the chi-square test. Questionnaires were administered to healthcare professionals from TB/non-TB services and structured interviews were conducted with TB patients to understand their perceptions about the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.Results: There was a significant decline in access to TB services during the pandemic, with a substantial decrease in reported cases (-15.5% in 2020; -18.3% in 2021) and treatment rate (from 86% in 2019 to 68% in 2020), an increase in multidrug-resistant-TB (from 0.2% in 2018 to 2.1% in 2022) and TB/HIV co-infections (from 6% in 2018 to 8.8% in 2021). The impact was most pronounced in the province of Luanda (capital city). TB services in Angola were disproportionately affected compared to general healthcare access indicators. The healthcare professionals' and patients' questionnaires showed that fear of COVID-19, unavailability of drugs, reduced income, and transportation challenges were the main barriers to healthcare access.The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the TB services provision in Angola. This highlights the urgent need for health systems to develop robust contingency plans to ensure the continuity of TB services during and after public health crises and to maintain essential healthcare services by supporting the healthcare workforce and addressing barriers to patient access.

    Keywords: Tuberculosis, COVID-19, Health services access, Angola, SARS - CoV-2

    Received: 20 Nov 2024; Accepted: 25 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Caminada, Benoni, Dente, Robbiati, Tomas, Natali, De Simeis, Da Silvia, Lazary, Tienabe, Putoto, Costanzo, Manenti and Tosti. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Roberto Benoni, Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, 00185, Lazio, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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