Africa: Climate Change is Now an Immediate Threat to HIV Control

What the report says

AllAfrica reported on July 31 that health experts are warning climate change has become an immediate risk to HIV control, particularly in communities already facing poverty, displacement and weak health systems. In a report from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Melody Chironda wrote that floods, droughts and other climate shocks are disrupting HIV testing, counselling, prevention and treatment services, especially in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa where structural inequality contributes to a heavy HIV burden.

The article cited Abireham Misganaw, Global Climate and Health Technical Lead at Pathfinder International, who said climate-related disasters are damaging facilities, cutting transport links, displacing people and worsening food insecurity, making it harder for people living with HIV to remain in care. Pathfinder pointed to Mozambique, where cyclones including Idai and Kenneth in 2019, Gombe in 2022 and Freddy in 2023 affected health facilities, outreach and HIV service delivery in several provinces.

Dr Joram Sunguti Luke of Pathfinder International said extreme weather can interrupt antiretroviral therapy by disrupting clinics, staff movement, patients and medicine supply chains. He identified weaknesses such as poor forecasting, limited buffer stocks, fragmented procurement, unreliable last-mile delivery, weak storage and vulnerability to power and transport failures. Suggested responses included stronger logistics data, decentralized medicine distribution, multi-month dispensing, emergency reserves and climate-resilient storage.

AllAfrica reported that the people most likely to be left behind include those living in poverty, women and girls, adolescents and young people, rural communities, migrants, displaced people, people with disabilities and key populations facing stigma. The broader significance is that HIV programmes may need to treat climate resilience as a core health-planning issue, not a separate environmental concern.