Maintaining HIV patients on drugs taking toll on healthcare services providers

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | HIV care service providers are struggling to maintain total adherence to drugs by their clients amidst the Covid-19 lockdown. Essentially, all HIV positive persons are promptly enrolled on the lifetime antiretroviral medication to support their immune system from being compromised by the virus.

However, HIV care service providers are currently finding it hard to ensure that all patients get hold of the needed antiretroviral medication because of the suspension of public transport.

Livingstone Kateregga, the medical in-charge at Kitovu Mobile AIDs Organization, a Catholic Medical and Community support institution operating in Masaka diocese says the lockdown is presenting tough times to reliably offer services to their clients.

Kateregga indicates that although patients had been advised to go for their drug refills at the nearby health facilities, some of them especially those in rural areas find it uncomfortable to switch service providers hence missing out on drugs due to failure to access facilities of their choice.

He explains that in such circumstances, they are required to make home deliveries to such clients to ensure their adherence to drugs which is costly for them.

Kateregga says that in many cases, clients are being held back by the fear of stigma in their community upon learning that they are on antiretroviral drugs.

Worried of developing drug resistance and high occurrences of opportunistic infections among their clients due to poor patterns of taking prescriptions, Kateregga says they have forced to suspend some activities and scheduled programs to cater for unplanned home delivery of drugs.

Dr. Muhammad Kawuki, the in Charge of Ntuusi Health Centre IV in Sembabule district also indicates that many clients of HIV and Tuberculosis whose follow-up appointments have coincided with the lockdown period have missed drugs due to transport restrictions.

He argues that despite their willingness to deliver the drugs to their clients, they are constrained by both manpower and financial resource deficiency capacities that can enable them reach out to individual patients at their respective homes.

Generally, the government’s travel restrictions are currently due to expire on June 4th.

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