It's a daunting task. I think that it's not all bleak; I think we are making progress. For example, the recent publication of the World Health Organization policy brief, "Transgender People and HIV," which really is an attempt at educating health ministries and governments, so that health organizations will have some clarity around who the population is and what makes them distinct from other sexual and gender minorities.
Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004))
Complete transcript :
ARUN RATH, HOST:
Transgender people are not getting adequate health care, and widespread discrimination is largely to blame. That's one of the findings of a recent World Health Organization report detailing alarming rates of HIV in transgender people worldwide. JoAnne Keatley is one of the report's authors.
JOANNE KEATLEY: We know that trans women are impacted by HIV and AIDS disproportionately - just shocking rates. There was a recent meta-analysis demonstrating that a transgender woman was 49 times as likely to be living with HIV in 15 countries in which data was looked at and analyzed. And so that data point was really quite shocking for us.
RATH: And obviously, transgender individuals face, in a lot of different places, not just prejudice, but violence for who they are. I have to imagine that must complicate things for health officials that are trying to get a handle on HIV cases globally.
KEATLEY: It complicates things for health officials, but not as much as it complicates things for trans people themselves. Trans people are subjected to horrific rates of violence. Transphobia is alive and well in many societies around the globe. And we see it play out in terms of physical and verbal violence, as well as denial of employment or education or, you know, familial support.
RATH: Can you run through some of the reasons why transgender individuals are at more risk for HIV?
KEATLEY: Well, I think a lot of it is stigma-driven. Trans people struggle in order to obtain identity documents that then allow them to participate in the workforce. Many trans people are not able to obtain health coverage. Often, trans women have to rely on industries such as the sex work industry, and so, you know, that comes along with a lot of additional kind of stigma from criminal justice. What is driving the epidemic is really the refusal, I would say, of governments to pass legislation that allows them to function in society and allows them to participate in the workplace.
RATH: I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but isn't that a rather tall order? If you need to improve fundamental conditions -- you know, basic rights -- for a group of people kind of across the board before HIV rates improve, that seems pretty difficult.
KEATLEY: Well, you're right. It's a daunting task. I think that it's not all bleak. I think we are making progress. For example, the recent publication of the World Health Organization policy brief "Transgender People And HIV," which really is an attempt at educating health ministries and governments so that health organizations will have some clarity around who the population is and what makes them distinct from other sexual and gender minorities.
RATH: JoAnne Keatley of the University of California in San Francisco. She's one of the authors of the newly released World Health Organization report on high rates of HIV among transgender people worldwide. JoAnne, thanks very much.
KEATLEY: Thank you for having me.
Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.