From: Barriers to scaling up hepatitis C treatment in Malaysia: a qualitative study with key stakeholders
Themes | Subthemes | Summary |
---|---|---|
1. Limited access to health facilities | (a) Movement restrictions during COVID-19 outbreaks (b) Marginalized key populations | Major factors limiting the access of people living with HCV to primary healthcare clinics and hospitals. |
2. Gaps in HCV treatment delivery | (a) Limited staffing and capacity (b) Disruption in material supply (c) Silos mentality and unintegrated systems (d) Logistical challenges for laboratory tests (e) Insufficient knowledge of care providers | Institutional insufficiencies affecting the delivery of HCV care. |
3. Free yet unaffordable treatment | (a) Transportation costs (b) Productivity loss | Reasons of life pressure among people living with HCV suppressing the uptake of no-cost treatment. |
4. Suboptimal acceptability of treatment | (a) Limited disease awareness and treatment adherence (b) Disease-related stigma | Causes of pharmacological treatment not widely accepted in people living with HCV. |
COVID-19 coronavirus disease-2019, HCVÂ hepatitis C virus |