Drought and adherence to HIV treatment in Africa
Citation: Orievulu KS, Ayeb-Karlsson S, Ngema S, et al. Exploring linkages between drought and HIV treatment adherence in Africa: a systematic review. Lancet Planetary Health. 2022;6(4):e359-e370.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: Sussex Sustainability Research Programme, University of Sussex (UK).
What is this? In this systematic review, the authors searched for primary literature that investigated how climate change-induced drought influenced adherence to anti-retroviral therapy (ART) for HIV in Africa. They restricted their searches to articles published in English from 2003 to September 2019. They included 111 articles.
What was found: The strongest links between drought and poor adherence to ART were related to economic conditions, particularly food insecurity, loss of production, unemployment, and reduced income. People used resources intended for ART treatment for food instead. Decreased ART adherence was also associated with side effects, HIV comorbidities, and migration.
Implications: The authors of the review stated that support for individuals with HIV should go beyond treatment to include a whole systems approach that improves public health in general, such as water and food security.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of place of residence and personal characteristics associated with discrimination.
This summary was prepared by Isabelle Tahmazian, checked by Sneha Bhadti, and finalized by William Summerskill.