What HIV got right - but obesity still hasn’t
Health experts argue that South Africa must avoid the stigma-driven mistakes made during the HIV epidemic when addressing the rising obesity crisis. The piece highlights how social media-driven demand for weight-loss drugs is fueled by a lack of evidence-based care and the framing of obesity as a moral failing.
Why it matters
It addresses the growing public health challenge of obesity and the dangers of unregulated medical treatments marketed on social platforms.
By Francois Venter, Simiso Sokhela, Nzama Mbalati and Yvette Raphael
As thousands of scientists, activists and policymakers gather in Rio de Janeiro for the 26th International Aids Conference next week , much of the discussion will focus on protecting decades of progress against HIV in the face of devastating global funding cuts.
But one of the most important lessons from the HIV response reaches far beyond HIV itself.
South Africa has already lived through one epidemic in which stigma kept people away from effective treatment . We shouldn’t repeat those mistakes as obesity emerges as one of the country’s biggest health challenges.
A woman at an HIV research site in Yeoville, Johannesburg, understood this dilemma long before most people did.
In 2019, she asked her doctor a question through tears: “Why can’t I stop gaining weight?”
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