No medicine, no food: Coronavirus restrictions amplify health risks to LGBT+ people with HIV

 | 
05/22/2020

It started with headaches then came nausea and diarrhea. Within two weeks, gay Ugandan barber Eric had became so weak without his HIV medication he could not walk and had to be hospitalised. “I was in the hospital for a week and four days. I nearly lost my life,” said Eric, 26, by phone from his village in Ntungamo district in western Uganda. “The doctor told me that I shouldn’t have stopped taking my HIV medicines, but it wasn’t my choice. There is no transport available because of the lockdown and I couldn’t walk the 20 km (12 miles) to the clinic to get my refills”. Lockdowns globally are preventing some LGBT+ people with HIV from getting the life-saving treatment they need – and potentially putting their compromised immune systems at risk if they contract COVID-19, according to HIV/AIDS organisations. From Uganda, Kenya and Mozambique to Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan and Trinidad and Tobago, rights groups report hearing of sexual minorities forced off treatment due to stay at home orders despite some government and NGO efforts to try to help them.

Share this:

Latest Global News

Added on: 11/04/2024
11/03/2024
The West African nation of Mali, which has been ruled by a military junta for more than three years, has voted for a new …
Added on: 11/04/2024
11/03/2024
On 22 October, Chinese host and dancer Jin Xing sparked an online uproar with a lengthy post on Weibo charging that her performance application …
Added on: 11/04/2024
11/03/2024
Japan’s Tokyo High Court ruled that the country’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional during a hearing on Wednesday. The Tokyo court ruled that the …

Explore LGBTQ+ Issues

Added on: 11/04/2024
The West African nation of Mali, which has been ruled by a military junta for more than three years, has voted for a new …
Added on: 11/04/2024
On 22 October, Chinese host and dancer Jin Xing sparked an online uproar with a lengthy post on Weibo charging that her performance application …
Added on: 11/04/2024
Japan’s Tokyo High Court ruled that the country’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional during a hearing on Wednesday. The Tokyo court ruled that the …