“Climate change is a threat to all of us,” said Gunilla Carlsson, UNAIDS Executive Director, a.i. “But vulnerable groups of people, including people living with and affected by HIV, are particularly exposed to the increased intensity of extreme weather events happening in areas of the world where coping mechanisms are already threadbare. Climate change must now be regarded as one of the most significant challenges to people’s health and well-being.”
On the eve of the United Nations Climate Action Summit, taking place in New York, United States of America, on 23 September, it is clear that climate change is now affecting every country on every continent. Often, the impact is greatest in regions already facing other challenges, with vulnerable groups of people, including people living with HIV, the most affected.
When Cyclone Idai made landfall near Beira, Mozambique, on 15 March 2019, heavy rain and strong winds caused flash flooding, hundreds of deaths and widespread damage to homes and infrastructure. By 19 March, it was estimated that 100 000 people were needing rescue. Communications in the city were down and all 17 of the city’s hospitals and health clinics suffered severe damage.
It would have been a devastating blow anywhere, but even more so in the province of Sofala, where around one in six of the adult population is living with HIV. When the floodwaters surged, many people simply saw their medication washed away.
Less than six weeks later, on 25 April, Cyclone Kenneth smashed into northern Mozambique. Overall, catastrophic flooding from the two storms affected around 2.2 million people in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Warmer sea surface temperatures and rising sea levels are contributing to an increased intensity and destructive capacity of hurricanes and tropical cyclones such as Idai and Kenneth in many countries already inclined to extreme weather events.
When Hurricane Kenneth hit Zimbabwe, the acting UNAIDS Country Director, Mumtaz Mia, said that her priority was to make sure that people living with HIV, including pregnant women enrolled in prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV programmes, could access HIV treatment.
“In Zimbabwe, where emergencies are not a new phenomenon, people living with HIV were left stranded when their medicine got washed away.”