Healthcare and Socio-economic Impacts of COVID-19 on Patients with Diabetes in Tanzania and Kenya

This project will provide much-needed, timely and unique evidence from rural and urban areas of neighbouring East African Countries (Tanzania and Kenya) with different approaches to the control of COVID-19. The project aims to explore the experiences of people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and healthcare providers on managing T2D during COVID-19. Guided by the World Health Organization Social Determinants of Health and Wellbeing Framework [1] , it will focus on how the pandemic has impacted patients' and healthcare providers' ability to manage T2D, the socio-economic burden of T2D, and patients' response to COVID-19 itself. It will also identify policy gaps in each country in relation to health and social care of T2D during COVID-19. The study will foster multidisciplinary collaboration and capacity building by close working between scientists from Africa and UK throughout delivery of five interrelated workpackages (WPs). WP1 will employ questionnaires (N=500 in each country) and in-depth interviews (N=30 in each country) to explore patients' experiences of healthcare access, and T2D self-management, socio-economic challenges and knowledge, attitude and practices related to COVID-19 in rural and urban settings in each country. WP2 will use a desk review and field research to estimate the individual and societal economic burden of T2D. In WP3, IDIs with local healthcare providers (N=15 in each country) will explore their perspectives on T2D management during COVID-19. In WP4, a policy landscape analysis in each country will employ a desk review and key informant interviews to identify policy gaps, priority setting and action for T2D during COVID-19. WP5 will use a multi-stage participatory process involving key stakeholders in which evidence from WPs 1-4 will be synthesised to develop context-specific national policy recommendations and health education messages for T2D management during COVID-19