A recent study published in Current Opinion in Infectious Disease has revealed that events such as droughts, floods, and hurricanes are creating serious challenges for HIV prevention and treatment worldwide — especially in regions already hit hard by both HIV and extreme weather.
What's happening?
Researchers from the University of Toronto examined 22 studies across 29 countries, discovering troubling connections between extreme weather events and HIV-related health outcomes. They found that, during droughts and floods, some communities experienced increased HIV transmission risks and reduced access to lifesaving HIV medications and care.
For example, when droughts struck agricultural areas, researchers observed increased rates of behaviors that can raise the risk of HIV exposure. During extreme weather events, many people also struggled to access HIV testing and stay on their treatment plans.
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Why are these events important?
More than 54% of people with HIV live in Eastern and Southern Africa — regions that are experiencing increasingly severe droughts and rainfall changes. When extreme weather damages health clinics, disrupts transportation, or forces people to relocate, it becomes much harder to get tested, access health care and emergency services, and take medications.
As such, the situation creates a dangerous cycle: Extreme weather events can increase poverty and food insecurity, which in turn can lead to increased HIV transmission risks and worse health outcomes for those already living with HIV.
Per the study, "there remains a significant, persisting lack of knowledge" about both extreme weather events and HIV in several key populations (such as sex workers and people who abuse substances). "Sexually and gender-diverse populations are also disproportionately affected by both HIV and [climate change], and may be more likely to live in poverty and experience housing and water insecurity," the study said.
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What's being done about this?
Health care providers and researchers are working to develop collective water management programs and emergency medication delivery systems to ensure people can access their HIV medications during extreme weather.
You can help to mitigate the impacts of the changing climate by switching to money-saving clean energy to reduce air pollution and buying locally grown food. More broadly, it's helpful to support organizations working on both climate resilience and increasing health care access in vulnerable communities, as research shows that protecting public health requires addressing these challenges together.
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