Water insecurity nearly quadruples odds of poor HIV outcomes, while hunger and partner violence compound risk in East Africa

Adults on HIV treatment in western Kenya who are experiencing water insecurity have nearly four times the odds of poor treatment outcomes, regardless of gender, researchers reported at the 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) in Rio de Janeiro. In a separate Ugandan study presented in the same session, delegates heard that women facing intimate partner violence, food insecurity and water insecurity together acquired HIV at eighteen times the rate of women facing none of them.

"We know that HIV treatment success is not contingent only on the clinical services that people receive, but also on the conditions in which they live," said Jacquelyne Odak of Maseno University, who presented the Kenyan findings. "Yet we continue to focus primarily on biomedical determinants of success, with less attention on structural barriers. One of the strongest barriers lies outside the clinic."