Clean water and sanitation are ‘missing pieces’ in treatment for HIV patients

The new report shows that 70 per cent of the approximately 35 million people living with HIV in the world reside in sub-Saharan Africa. This equates to approximately 25 million people.Clean water is critical to keeping people living with HIV healthy, for taking antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and for the good hygiene required to minimise infections. […]

The new report shows that 70 per cent of the approximately 35 million people living with HIV in the world reside in sub-Saharan Africa. This equates to approximately 25 million people.
Clean water is critical to keeping people living with HIV healthy, for taking antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and for the good hygiene required to minimise infections. Yet 35% of people in sub-Saharan Africa are living without access to clean water and 70.4 per cent are without basic sanitation. This leaves many people living with HIV suffering from chronic diarrhoea and unable to care for themselves or their families.
Diarrhoea compromises the effectiveness of ARV drugs by reducing the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from food and medicine. Many life-threatening opportunistic infections are caused by exposure to unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene. Diarrhoea is a very common symptom that can occur throughout the course of HIV and AIDS and affects 90 per cent of PLHIV resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. 88 per cent of diarrhoeal cases are directly linked to unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.
Dr. Michael Ojo, WaterAid Nigeria Country Representative, said: “Thanks to the great strides in medical research over the last three decades, HIV is now a much more manageable condition and no longer the death sentence it used to be. It seems to be counter-productive that in spite of such progress on education and in delivering anti-retroviral drugs, there’s no focus on ensuring people living with HIV/AIDS also have clean water, basic toilets and the means to wash themselves and keep their surroundings clean.
“These basic services are crucial in helping those living with the illness to lead healthier, more dignified and more productive lives.”
Lack of access to clean water nearby means many households have more than a kilometre to walk for water, and people living in households without toilets, including the sick and elderly, have no choice but to defecate in the bush.
Taking ARV drugs requires 1.5 litres of safe, clean water each day. However, a person living with HIV might require up to 100 litres a day to stay clean and healthy. This takes into account basic needs for drinking, food preparation, laundry and washing, as well as for formula-feeding babies born to mothers with HIV, for watering gardens to improve nutrition, and for extra cleaning, washing and laundering during cases of diarrhoea. In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, this is simply not possible.
The report recommends combining water, sanitation and hygiene into HIV services to recognise that without sufficient clean water, sanitation and proper hygiene, people living with HIV will be more ill more often, and less able to live healthy and productive lives.