Clinical situation of Venezuelan migrants living with HIV in a hospital in Lima, Peru

Abstract

Due to a huge crisis extensive to health services many Venezuelan people living with HIV (PLWH) had migrated abroad, including Peru where favorable laws were in place until June 2019. We describe the health status and epidemiological trends of PLWH from Venezuela at an HIV program in Lima. We analyzed baseline and follow-up data of all Venezuelan PLWH enrolled in our HIV program from January 2017 to December 2019. A cross-sectional study in a subsample served to describe ARV adherence and context of migration. Between 2017-2019 our HIV Program registered 398 Venezuelan PLWH, representing 20% of the 2018 annual enrollments; numbers decreased since mid-2019. The median age was 30 years (IQR 26;37) and 90.5% were men. Between 2017 and 2019, the proportion with diagnosis in Peru increased from 14.3% to 60.9%; of AIDS stage at entry, from 8.8% to 27.2%. By December 2019, 182/250 (72.8%) were still in care, and 43 (10.8%) had not started ART. Viral suppression evaluated in 195, was achieved in 71.8%. From 2017 to 2019, migrant PLWH arrived in worsened clinical conditions, with increasing diagnosis in Peru; the flow of migrant PLWH entering care diminished with less favorable laws. Viral suppression rates were suboptimal.