As the efforts to eradicate climate change and HIV are continuously ongoing, it is just but undeniable that their impacts continue to haunt us even up to this day. And, as the US government has recently conveyed a hint regarding their potential withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, a number of experts believe that it may have wide range of implications more than we just have thought it to be. Moreover, while much attention has concentrated upon melting glaciers, rising sea levels and conflicts over scarce resources, another area that represents a major cause for public concern and is usually being overlooked is human health.
The Double Jeopardy: HIV And Climate Change
In one of their statements reported by The Conversation, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has explained that global climate change has direct health impacts that are being linked to certain changes in the frequency of extreme weather events that includes heat, drought and intense rain. They also have found that increasing temperatures can allegedly disrupt the ecosystem's dynamics, which makes it easier for mosquitoes and other organisms to come into contact with human populations and spread infectious disease.
Furthermore, it was also found that climate change also have the ability to undermine the improvements in the management of existing disease outbreaks. Authorities have already claimed that the South African government has become more aggressive in responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic while establishing itself as a leader in the testing and treatment of HIV-positive individuals
HIV On Resource Shortage
According to reports revealed by The Good Men Project, the chronic HIV suggests that there must be a universal access to antiretroviral therapy (ART), which basically shows a politically neutral terrain for sick and dying people. Regardless of the government's assertions of widespread access to antiretroviral drugs, in South Africa as elsewhere, health professionals have revealed that some people still lack access to treatment regimens that offer the possibility for survival. Ultimately, this is further challenged by new guidelines from the World Health Organization recommending that HIV-positive individuals pursue ART earlier.
