Even with easy access to ARVs, only one in three HIV-positive people will seek them
SA’s policy to reduce HIV infections is to do what the UN recommends‚ which is to get 90% of people tested‚ 90% of HIV-positive people taking antiretrovirals and 90% of those on treatment taking it properly so they are not infectious. This will ultimately decrease the rate of new infections. But a study of 27‚000 people in Hlabisa in rural KwaZulu-Natal shows that even if you make it easy for people to test for HIV and to gain access to treatment‚ most people will not make use of those facilities‚ especially men. Researchers from the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) in partnership with the French Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis offered testing to more than 27‚000 men and women in a community in Hlabisa‚ every six months in their homes. They also brought mobile clinics to the area for five years between 2012 and April 2016. The findings of the study were published in the prestigious Lancet medical journal on Friday. In 2012‚ only people with a low CD4 count (wh...
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