On 29 February 2024, Ritshidze will launch a brand new report highlighting the poor quality of health services provided to people who use drugs, sex workers, and the LGBTQIA+ community in South Africa. This is the third annual state of healthcare report of its kind. Data from interviews with 13,832 people reveal the severity of the crisis.
The data will be presented to the health department and other duty bearers at a community meeting in Mamelodi. The meeting will be live streamed here: vimeo, facebook and YouTube.
Queer and trans people, people who use drugs and sex workers will stand up and tell their own stories of what it is like to use a public clinic. We will expose the truth of the daily indignities, abuse, and humiliation that some people must go through, while simply trying to get health services. A docket of 195 testimonies will also be handed in to duty bearers pertaining to the challenges members of key populations face in the public healthcare system.
The data collection took place across 24 districts in 7 provinces of the country, between July and September 2023. This year 13,832 surveys were collected combining interviews with:
- 2,612 gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM)
- 6,097 people who use drugs
- 3,700 sex workers
- 1,423 trans people
Ritshidze is a programme of the PLHIV Sector made up of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), National Association of People Living with HIV (NAPWA), Positive Action Campaign, Positive Women’s Network, the South African Network of Religious Leaders Living with HIV (SANERELA+).
You can follow @RitshidzeSA on twitter, facebook and instagram for regular updates or go to www.ritshidze.org.za for more information.
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