COVID-19 Impact on Healthcare and Supportive Services for People Who Use Drugs (PWUDs) in Malaysia
Background: Restrictive orders and temporary programmatic or ad hoc changes within healthcare and other supportive systems that were implemented in response to the COVID-19 epidemic in Malaysia may have created hindrances to accessing healthcare and/or receiving other supportive services for people...
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doaj-86daac25652e4338b73b67d3a454be0c2021-03-29T04:28:01ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402021-03-011210.3389/fpsyt.2021.630730630730COVID-19 Impact on Healthcare and Supportive Services for People Who Use Drugs (PWUDs) in MalaysiaBalasingam Vicknasingam0Nur Afiqah Mohd Salleh1Nur Afiqah Mohd Salleh2Weng-Tink Chooi3Darshan Singh4Norzarina Mohd Zaharim5Adeeba Kamarulzaman6Adeeba Kamarulzaman7Marek C. Chawarski8Centre for Drug Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, MalaysiaDepartment of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaCentre of Excellence for Research in AIDS, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaSchool of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, MalaysiaCentre for Drug Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, MalaysiaSchool of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, MalaysiaCentre of Excellence for Research in AIDS, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaDepartment of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaYale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United StatesBackground: Restrictive orders and temporary programmatic or ad hoc changes within healthcare and other supportive systems that were implemented in response to the COVID-19 epidemic in Malaysia may have created hindrances to accessing healthcare and/or receiving other supportive services for people who use drugs (PWUDs).Design: A primarily qualitative study has been conducted to evaluate how service providers and recipients were adapting and coping during the initial periods of the COVID-19 response.Settings: The study engaged several healthcare and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the peninsular states of Penang, Kelantan, Selangor, and Melaka.Participants: Medical personnel of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) programs (n = 2) and HIV clinics (n = 3), staff of NGO services (n = 4), and MMT patients (n = 9) were interviewed using a semi-structured format.Results: Interviewed participants reported significant organizational, programmatic, and treatment protocols related changes implemented within the healthcare and support services in addition to nationally imposed Movement Control Orders (MCOs). Changes aimed to reduce patient flow and concentration at the on-site services locations, including less frequent in-person visits, increased use of telemedicine resources, and greater reliance on telecommunication methods to maintain contacts with patients and clients; changes in medication dispensing protocols, including increased take-home doses and relaxed rules for obtaining them, or delivery of medications to patients' homes or locations near their homes were reported by the majority of study participants. No significant rates of COVID-19 infections among PWUDs, including among those with HIV have been reported at the study sites.Conclusions: Although the reported changes presented new challenges for both services providers and recipients and resulted in some degree of initial disruption, generally, all participants reported successful implementation and high levels of compliance with the newly introduced restrictions, regulations, and protocols, resulting in relatively low rates of treatment disruption or discontinuation at the study sites.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.630730/fullpeople who use drugsCOVID-19methadoneHIVMalaysia |
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DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Balasingam Vicknasingam Nur Afiqah Mohd Salleh Nur Afiqah Mohd Salleh Weng-Tink Chooi Darshan Singh Norzarina Mohd Zaharim Adeeba Kamarulzaman Adeeba Kamarulzaman Marek C. Chawarski |
spellingShingle |
Balasingam Vicknasingam Nur Afiqah Mohd Salleh Nur Afiqah Mohd Salleh Weng-Tink Chooi Darshan Singh Norzarina Mohd Zaharim Adeeba Kamarulzaman Adeeba Kamarulzaman Marek C. Chawarski COVID-19 Impact on Healthcare and Supportive Services for People Who Use Drugs (PWUDs) in Malaysia Frontiers in Psychiatry people who use drugs COVID-19 methadone HIV Malaysia |
author_facet |
Balasingam Vicknasingam Nur Afiqah Mohd Salleh Nur Afiqah Mohd Salleh Weng-Tink Chooi Darshan Singh Norzarina Mohd Zaharim Adeeba Kamarulzaman Adeeba Kamarulzaman Marek C. Chawarski |
author_sort |
Balasingam Vicknasingam |
title |
COVID-19 Impact on Healthcare and Supportive Services for People Who Use Drugs (PWUDs) in Malaysia |
title_short |
COVID-19 Impact on Healthcare and Supportive Services for People Who Use Drugs (PWUDs) in Malaysia |
title_full |
COVID-19 Impact on Healthcare and Supportive Services for People Who Use Drugs (PWUDs) in Malaysia |
title_fullStr |
COVID-19 Impact on Healthcare and Supportive Services for People Who Use Drugs (PWUDs) in Malaysia |
title_full_unstemmed |
COVID-19 Impact on Healthcare and Supportive Services for People Who Use Drugs (PWUDs) in Malaysia |
title_sort |
covid-19 impact on healthcare and supportive services for people who use drugs (pwuds) in malaysia |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Psychiatry |
issn |
1664-0640 |
publishDate |
2021-03-01 |
description |
Background: Restrictive orders and temporary programmatic or ad hoc changes within healthcare and other supportive systems that were implemented in response to the COVID-19 epidemic in Malaysia may have created hindrances to accessing healthcare and/or receiving other supportive services for people who use drugs (PWUDs).Design: A primarily qualitative study has been conducted to evaluate how service providers and recipients were adapting and coping during the initial periods of the COVID-19 response.Settings: The study engaged several healthcare and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the peninsular states of Penang, Kelantan, Selangor, and Melaka.Participants: Medical personnel of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) programs (n = 2) and HIV clinics (n = 3), staff of NGO services (n = 4), and MMT patients (n = 9) were interviewed using a semi-structured format.Results: Interviewed participants reported significant organizational, programmatic, and treatment protocols related changes implemented within the healthcare and support services in addition to nationally imposed Movement Control Orders (MCOs). Changes aimed to reduce patient flow and concentration at the on-site services locations, including less frequent in-person visits, increased use of telemedicine resources, and greater reliance on telecommunication methods to maintain contacts with patients and clients; changes in medication dispensing protocols, including increased take-home doses and relaxed rules for obtaining them, or delivery of medications to patients' homes or locations near their homes were reported by the majority of study participants. No significant rates of COVID-19 infections among PWUDs, including among those with HIV have been reported at the study sites.Conclusions: Although the reported changes presented new challenges for both services providers and recipients and resulted in some degree of initial disruption, generally, all participants reported successful implementation and high levels of compliance with the newly introduced restrictions, regulations, and protocols, resulting in relatively low rates of treatment disruption or discontinuation at the study sites. |
topic |
people who use drugs COVID-19 methadone HIV Malaysia |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.630730/full |
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