More than half of new diagnoses of HIV here are among people from sub-Saharan Africa, and over three-quarters of these are women, according to a report published today.
The report, Listen! : The Experiences of Minority Ethnic Women living with HIV, was carried out by Cairde - a non-governmental organisation working to reduce inequality among ethnic minorities in Ireland - and is published to coincide with World AIDS Day.
Based on interviews with 40 women from sub-Saharan Africa living with HIV, it says Government policies are hampering these women's access to vital health services, while some health providers have refused HIV treatment to immigrants.
Of the 364 people newly diagnosed with HIV here last year 186 were from sub-Saharan Africa, of whom 140 were women. Of the 231 who contracted HIV through heterosexual sex, 177 were from sub-Saharan Africa. However, according to Ms Stephanie Whyte, project manager with the Women's Health Action group with Cairde, these are tiny numbers among an immigrant population of about 130,000.
Today's report says dispersing asylum-seekers around the State makes accessing necessary health services difficult, as the major specialist clinics are in Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
"Until recently women were allowed to be moved out of the dispersal and direct provision system if a medical condition required this, but this is no longer automatically the case.
"Also there have been some isolated incidents where women were refused treatment when their legal status was unclear to health service providers."
Some 41 per cent of the women attended specialised clinics in the hospitals quarterly, monthly or fortnightly. The report recommends that direct provision and the dispersal system should be ended.
