Climate change is an HIV story. Here’s how to report it

South Africa has more people living with HIV than any other country, which makes us more vulnerable as severe weather due to climate change intensifies and HIV funds shrink .

While climate change does not change the virus, severe floods, drought and hotter weather can destroy roads, block access to health clinics, cause people to move and shift daily routines that would otherwise keep HIV treatment going.

In a worst-case warming scenario, 25–37% more people in sub-Saharan Africa could be living with HIV by 2050.

Disasters like the 2022 Durban floods saw people losing their HIV medication, their identity documents (IDs) or even a way to restock their medication.

Those breaks in treatment can cause the virus to get a foothold and start multiplying — making people sick and able to infect others .

Here’s what reporters should look for, the trails to follow, and the experts to call.

In today’s newsletter , Ida Jooste tells us why climate change is an HIV story.

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On 12 April 2022, Mfundo Shezi woke when the skies cracked open and unleashed a merciless deluge over KwaZulu-Natal .

The 32-year-old, who usually sleeps in a park in Umbilo in Durban, immediately fled for shelter, abandoning all he owned.

Shezi didn’t have much, but by the time he returned the next morning, he found that the flood had taken all of his possessions.

That included his ID and his monthly supply of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment for HIV, which he had been taking faithfully since he started treatment in 2021.

“On that day, I missed a dose for the first time,” he told Bhekisisa .

Without taking his HIV medications consistently, he knew he’d get sick.