3 million HIV sufferers in SA untreated

THREE million South Africans living with HIV are unaccounted for and untreated.

This is according to Professor Linda-Gail Bekker, director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at UCT’s Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine.

“As we get closer to the last mile, the harder it will be to locate these folks because they either aren’t aware of their HIV status or they fear this diagnosis and prefer not to be found,” she said, as the world yesterday commemorated World Aids Day.

Approximately 7.8 million South Africans are currently living with HIV – 5 million are on antiretroviral treatment (ART) and a further 3 million remain unaccounted for.

“We need to find these people and diagnose them, we need to help them start their ART.

“Finally, for the best outcomes we need them to continue on ART into their old age.

“This is necessary to restore longevity and reduce infectiousness.

“Without a doubt, ART works,” Bekker said.

She said it would take a collective effort from health-care providers who work in communities around the country to create ongoing awareness on HIV and ART.

This would include eliminating the stigma and removing all barriers for people to easily test and efficiently access their treatment, she said.

Meanwhile, HIV-negative rape survivors have a greater risk of acquiring HIV for years after the rape.

This is due to the long-term negative impact of rape on survivors’ mental health and well-being, which together with structural and societal factors drives both sexual violence and HIV, thereby increasing rape survivors’ vulnerability to HIV infection.

These findings emerged from the Rape Impact Cohort Evaluation (Rice) Study conducted by the SA Medical Research Council’s Gender and Health Research Unit (GHRU).

The Rice Study recruited women aged 16-40 who sought care for a rape in the Durban metro region between 2014 and 2019.

“This is the first time we have shown with research that much more intensive support for survivors after rape is needed,” said Professor Naeemah Abrahams, GHRU director and lead researcher on the study.

Shout-It-Now, a South African organisation specialising communitybased HIV prevention services, meanwhile said South Africa was making progress towards the UNaids 95-95-95 ambitious targets for 2030.

“UNaids data from this year shows that South Africa has reached 92% known status, 70% on HIV treatment and 64% virally suppressed,” Shout-It-Now researcher Dr Albert Machinda said.