Data privacy amongst obstacles for using telehealth on HIV treatment in APAC

Almost half of people living with HIV are concerned about cybersecurity.

Nearly half of people living with HIV and (PLHIV) in the Asia and Pacific region said data privacy issues is one of their obstacles in using telehealth services, according to Gilead Sciences recent study.

Specifically, 43% of PLHIV and 35% of individuals at risk (IARs) are concerned on cybersecurity risks when using telehealth whilst nearly half of IARs or 47% said they feel discomfort about the lack of in-person contact when using telehealth.

Although, in the region, there is an uptick of telehealth services usage for HIV treatment over the past years.

The biggest increase was seen in the Philippines for PLHIV and IARs with 71% and 83%, respectively. This was followed by Vietnam and Malaysia.

Convenience, flexibility, and improved access to additional HIV information were the top three reasons why they used telehealth.

The study were based on replies from 1,531 respondents, which is composed of 787 PLHIV and 744 IARs, across nine markets in the Asia Pacific. The survey responses were received from June to September 2022.