Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Nov 4, 2024
Date Accepted: Mar 11, 2025
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Technology Assisted Interventions in the delivery of HIV Prevention, Care and Treatment services in Sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping Review.
ABSTRACT
Background:
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) accounts for up to 67% of the global HIV burden yet grapples with health system challenges like distant health facilities, low doctor-to-patient ratio and poor or non-functioning post-hospital follow-up mechanisms. The rising phone ownership and internet penetration in SSA (46% and 67%, respectively) offers an opportunity to leverage technology to address these gaps and drive towards achieving the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets.
Objective:
We undertook a scoping review to understand how digital technologies have been integrated into HIV prevention, care and treatment services delivery in SSA.
Methods:
A scoping review involving four databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane and Google Scholar) was done covering studies related to technology use in the delivery of HIV prevention, care and treatment published from January 1, 2019, to December 30th, 2023. Search terms like “telemedicine,” “telehealth,” “mobile health,” “eHealth,” “mHealth,” “telecommunication,” “mobile application,” “digital health” among others. Of the 310 papers identified, 11 were excluded due to duplicity, 299 were outside SSA and or the intervention was not well described, and 149 were due to year of publication and study type being a literature review or study protocols leaving 17 papers that were considered for the review.
Results:
From the 17 studies summarised, the technologies identified included social media (1), interactive voice response (1), hotlines (1), mobile applications (7), health information systems (2), chatbots (1) and text messages (5). Adolescents (11-14yrs) and youths (20-35yrs) formed the majority of users. The use cases included reminders on facility events, teleconsultations, patient registration, and health information dissemination among others. Different parameters of individual digital tools were tracked including feasibility, usability, adoption and impact on the desired outcome.
Conclusions:
The integration of digital technologies in health care can address the known challenges in the delivery of HIV prevention, care and treatment services, facilitate customization of care to individual needs and thus increase or diversify options available to patients. Clinical Trial: Not Appliable
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