First transgender women HIV study

THE FIRST South African study of HIV prevalence in transgender women was launched in East London yesterday.

The study by the Human Sciences Research Council will lead the South African integrated biological and behavioural survey.

It was initiated and supported by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention with funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, and would be supported by various South African and international academic and civil society partners.

This study will be conducted in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Buffalo City Metro in the Eastern Cape later this month.

Global statistics show that transgender women are nearly 49 times more likely to be infected with HIV than other adults of reproductive age.

Despite this, there is little information in South Africa about the specific HIV vulnerabilities of transgender women and HIV prevalence among transgender women also remains undocumented.

The council’s deputy chief executive for research, Professor Leickness Simbayi, said it hoped to contribute towards a deeper understanding of how HIV is affecting the transgender women population in South Africa.

“Transgender women have often been neglected in South Africa’s response to HIV.

“This study is, therefore, an important first step in ensuring that transgender women have a voice – both in terms of how HIV affects transgender women but equally about what can be done to help transgender women to protect themselves,” Simbayi said.

“Our public health campaigns must become more responsive if we are to impact decisively on combating HIV and Aids.”

The study goes towards South Africa’s commitment to the Joint UN Programme on HIV/Aids global target to ensure that by 2020 90% of all people living with HIV will know their status, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained anti-retroviral therapy, and 90% of all people receiving anti-retroviral therapy will have viral suppression.

South Africa has committed itself to reducing new infections of HIV by 60% from 270 000 in 2016 to less than 100 000 by 2022. – African News Agency/ANA

OUR PUBLIC HEALTH CAMPAIGNS MUST BECOME MORE RESPONSIVE IF WE ARE TO IMPACT DECISIVELY ON COMBATING HIV AND AIDS

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