Access To HIV Treatment, Care Services Improving In Africa, Asia, But Stigma Persists

News outlets publish stories related to HIV/AIDS to mark World AIDS Day, recognized annually on December 1.

Agence France-Presse: Fighting AIDS a top priority in western Kenya
“…In Homa Bay, a remote rural region on the southern shores of Lake Victoria, AIDS is a major problem with studies showing that one in four people are HIV-positive. Every day, a team from the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) led by Patrick Kibira Ochoro heads out on foot to reach the most isolated areas, going door-to-door in a bid to discuss, persuade, and ultimately convince people to get tested…” (Belaud, 11/30).

Thomson Reuters Foundation: Despite treatment advances, AIDS stigma lingers in rural South Africa
“…Over the last decade, an HIV-positive diagnosis has turned from a death sentence to a manageable problem in South Africa, due to cheap, widely available antiretroviral treatment. … But the stigma surrounding the disease has barely budged, particularly in rural areas like Qudeni, a remote village in South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal province where hundreds of children have been left orphaned by the virus…” (Goering, 11/30).

Thomson Reuters Foundation: As they grow up, South African AIDS orphans confront crime, HIV
“…Hunger and poverty are just some of the threats facing the AIDS orphans of Qudeni, a village that, like thousands of other villages in South Africa, is struggling not just with the virus but the aftermath of a generation of parents lost to AIDS. The social fallout from a disease that has left an estimated 2.3 million South African children to be raised without parents is proving particularly hard to manage, experts say…” (Goering, 11/30).

Thomson Reuters Foundation: HIV stigma in Uganda puts mothers and babies at risk
“When Juliet Nalumu, overjoyed at her first pregnancy, visited her local hospital in eastern Uganda for a check-up, it turned into one of the worst days of her life. … Nalumu’s story is not unusual in eastern Uganda — and in many parts of Africa — where women are entirely dependent on their husbands for food, shelter and medicine, and where stigma against AIDS is common…” (Whiting, 11/30).

Thomson Reuters Foundation: Myanmar’s HIV patients shunned despite progress in treatment
“…Myanmar has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in Asia. Under reforms by a semi-civilian government since 2011, access to medication has improved compared to a few years ago when cash-strapped clinics had to turn patients away. … Yet the stigma faced by people living with HIV lingers…” (Aung, 11/30).

The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.

KFF Headquarters: 185 Berry St., Suite 2000, San Francisco, CA 94107 | Phone 650-854-9400
Washington Offices and Barbara Jordan Conference Center: 1330 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 | Phone 202-347-5270

www.kff.org | Email Alerts: kff.org/email | facebook.com/KFF | twitter.com/kff

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news, KFF is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California.