SFAF restores services after being hit by supply-chain issues
The San Francisco AIDS Foundation runs one of the largest community-based HIV service programs in the country, but last month, it began canceling some services and rationing testing for sexually-transmitted infections due to supply shortages at its Strut health center in the Castro.
The rollback came amid a suspected rise in San Francisco's STI cases, but as of this week SFAF began to resume normal services. "We were never in a situation of crisis until the beginning of this year," said Jorge Roman, director of clinical services and a nurse practitioner with SFAF.
Typically, SFAF sees roughly 85 patients a day and provides routine STI testing for each person because many infections like HIV, chlamydia, and syphilis can present as asymptomatic.
If a patient is on PrEP, a once-a-day pill that prevents HIV, they are required to undergo testing every three months. Without the right testing tubes, SFAF was forced to scale back its syphilis testing in mid-January and postpone non-urgent medical appointments.
