09 Apr 2015

Gumare Primary Hospital Health Management Team (DHMT) recorded more than 20 cases of Antiretroviral (ARV) therapy defaulters in 2014 only.

The hospital’s principal registered nurse and head of ARV clinic, Mr Joel Nyame said in an interview that the defaulters were teenagers and middle aged people.

He explained that most of the defaulters were those who had been brought by other people for HIV and AIDS testing and were then enrolled into the treatment as well as those who were given treatment after being admitted sick in the hospital.

Mr Nyame said it had been revealed during their counselling sessions that some of these patients had not accepted themselves. He explained that some teenagers did not comply with the treatment when they were at secondary schools due to peer pressure.

Furthermore, he said some teenagers defaulted as they were frustrated by the fact that they were born with the virus and putting blame on their parents. He said in such cases, they call the parents or guardians of the children for counseling, adding that the elderly are complying well with the ARV treatment.

Mr Nyame mentioned some reasons from defaulters such as fatigue to take treatment, lack of support from family members, shortage of food and alcohol consumption, adding that some stopped because their CD4 count had improved.

He said some patients revealed that they defaulted because their partners wanted to have babies while some stopped because of religious and cultural beliefs.
Mr Nyame explained that ARV defaulting is dangerous as it gives the virus a chance to intensify its fight against the antibodies.
He said unlike bacteria and other disease causing microorganisms, HIV can change to different shapes and stages making it hard for the treatment to work effectively when someone defaults.

Also, he noted that the ARVs help increase the CD4 count, which the body needs in fighting against this virus. Mr Nyame said defaulting might result in the failure of the treatment, in which case there is nothing they can do for the patient but to send him or her to Nyangabwe Referral Hospital n Francistown to see a specialist.

He appealed to the community to be loyal to themselves when taking this treatment and encouraged them to avoid or minimise consumption of alcohol and smoking as they compete with ARV drugs in the liver, where all chemicals entering the body are being regulated, decreasing the effectiveness of the ARVs. Mr Nyame also urged family members to be supportive of each other in taking these pills at the stipulated time. ENDS