Each month, a sex worker living with HIV, received antiretroviral medicines (ARVs). They also receive contraceptives at a drop-in centre in Mombasa, Kenya. But under the COVID-19 lockdown, a police barrier stopped her from accessing the centre.
When ARV treatment is going on and interrupted, one can feel ill and become more infectious. Worried, sex worker called her doctor. He offered to get her a three-months’ supply of ARVs and condoms to her nearby place. Sex workers are most vulnerable to acquiring and passing on HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Therefore prevention programmes are crucial for public health. To ignore HIV prevention and sex workers during an emergency is self-defeating, New infections and demands for ARV treatment will burden the health system.
Data source: All Africa news
