EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC ON SUPPLY CHAIN OF HIV TEST KITS ONDO STATE, SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

COVID-19 pandemic has required swift revamping of health systems and public health measures at a scale never observed. The pandemic emergence has a direct effect on the health system, negatively affecting its capacity as depletion of resources are now channelled to curb the emergency of the communicable disease, especially among individuals living with HIV disease which drew our attention to how individuals suffering from HIV and people who needed to know their HIV status has not been able to visit the health facilities due to the effect of coronavirus pandemic on the supply of the test kits used in the health facilities. This study evaluated the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the supply chain of HIV test kits in Ondo State, Nigeria. The primary objective was to determine the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the supply of HIV test kits in Ondo State. The research was a sequential cross-sectional design using a quantitative method of analysis with a total sample size of 100 respondents with all samples drawn from 30 supported health facilities in the state. In addition, literature review was also used to know the effect of the coronavirus on reach of 95% of UNAIDS 2030 target. The study used both descriptive and inferential methods of data analysis where the descriptive statistics comprise of frequency distribution, percentage distribution, weighted mean score, and standard deviation while the inferential method of data analysis used ordinal least square (simple linear regression) to determine the effect of coronavirus pandemic on the supply chain test kits. Findings from the result concluded that pandemic and the methods of supply chain management indicated a significant effect. In addition, from the review the major impacts of COVID-19 were innovation, increased technology, research and development, depletion of supply chain personnel. Therefore, there is a need to develop national guidelines on supply chain strategy for emergencies in Nigeria as well as adhere strictly to some recommendations made in the study.