Going Digital
Four innovations increasing access to HIV services around the world
Digital technology is increasingly integral to daily life, especially when seeking health services.
From electronic medical record software to mobile health messaging systems, USAID, through investments from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), supports more than 100 digital health investment activities globally.
Many of these solutions are closing the persistent gaps that remain in reaching some of the populations disproportionately affected by HIV — adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), and key populations, including sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender people, people who inject drugs, and people in prisons and other enclosed settings — with life-saving testing and treatment services.
USAID’s innovative digital solutions work to address inequitable access to safe, effective, and quality HIV services due to stigma, discrimination, violence, human rights violations, and criminalization.
Here’s how four USAID-supported digital solutions are making health services more accessible for people living with HIV around the world.
1. Smart lockers promote access to life-saving medication
For people living with HIV, regular adherence to medication is crucial to control the virus. However, long lines at health centers, daily work and school schedules, and persistent stigma can prevent people from picking up and taking their treatment regularly.
Through a project working to achieve control of the HIV epidemic, USAID supports the development and installation of “smart lockers” in Southern Africa that dispense medication to people with chronic conditions, including HIV. With integrated computers and sensor networks, the smart lockers safely store a person’s medicine until it is convenient for them to collect it. Once they receive a one-time pin on their mobile, they know it’s time for their next collection.
The smart lockers enable people to access their medications outside of a health facility at any hour and without waiting in long lines, thereby helping to decongest health facilities and free up staff. The privacy of picking up medications from lockers also helps to eliminate stigma and discrimination often felt by people living with HIV.
2. E-pharmacy delivers HIV treatment directly to clients’ homes
In India, TAAL (Treatment, Adherence, Advocacy and Literacy) started in 2006 as a peer-led community pharmacy to provide high-quality and affordable testing, treatment, and peer counseling services to people living with HIV. With support from USAID, TAAL transitioned from a community pharmacy to TAAL+, an integrated health center and launched an e-pharmacy in 2023.
Through the e-pharmacy, people living with HIV or other chronic health conditions can order their medicines online to be delivered directly to their homes, providing convenience and privacy. Programs like TAAL+ represent what USAID seeks to advance: impactful, sustainable, innovative, and human-centered solutions.
3. Mobile app connects clients to services and treatment
QuickRes is a first-of-its-kind application, developed with support from USAID, for managing virtual HIV services. The multi-country, multi-language application allows people to make appointments for health services and engage virtually with HIV outreach workers, case managers, and clinical staff, increasing health workers’ impact by allowing them to reach many more clients per day.
Users can take a confidential survey to figure out their risk for HIV, request protection against gender-based violence, or send a message directly to a health professional to get questions answered online. In select countries, the platform allows people to request free condoms delivered directly to their home.
4. Electronic medical record system supports HIV treatment retention and client privacy
In Eswatini, through a project supporting information systems to respond to HIV and emerging epidemics, USAID supports the Eswatini Ministry of Health in their stewardship of the Client Management Information System (CMIS) — a centralized electronic medical record system in use at 247 of 327 health care facilities and securely storing data on over 85% of all people on HIV treatment. CMIS facilitates greater HIV treatment compliance and connects health workers with people, even in some of the most remote areas of the country.
The system has SMS text message functionality in Siswati and English to send appointment reminders, announcements, and other important care information. A phone number verification feature helps to send reminders only to valid cell phone numbers, and biometric fingerprint scanners ensure access to health records can only occur when the person is present.
Looking forward, funding alone won’t address social and structural barriers that many of the most at-risk populations face in receiving effective care, such as accessibility of health services and stigma against people living with HIV.
If the world is to sustain and accelerate progress toward ending HIV as a public health threat by 2030, we must all recommit to ending the inequities that still stand in the way.
USAID is continuing to evolve and innovate products and the way HIV services are delivered to reach critical populations with accessible, affordable, and equitable HIV testing and treatment services.
About the Author
Cassie Vasiloff is a Communications Advisor for the USAID Office of HIV/AIDS.
