Test and treat project going well

Professor Abdool Karim says there are no problems with patients taking antiretroviral medication. Picture: BONGANI MBATHA

Professor Abdool Karim says there are no problems with patients taking antiretroviral medication. Picture: BONGANI MBATHA

Published Dec 4, 2016

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Durban - It has been three months since South Africa adopted the universal Test and Treat guidelines by the World Health Organisation which says that all people living with HIV should take antiretroviral treatment regardless of their CD4 count (the most important laboratory indicator of how well your immune system is working and the strongest predictor of HIV progression).

Speaking on the sidelines of the UKZN public lecture to commemorate World Aids Day, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, director of the Comprehensive International Program of Research on Aids (Caprisa), said the programme was going well. “I was very much part and parcel of the committee that recommended this when we were originally making these recommendations.

“We were also concerned that people would not take the medication if they were feeling well. We have implemented it at my clinic and government hospitals and there have been no problems. Patients come every three months to collect their tablets,” said Karim.

With regards to the affordability of treatment, Karim said the price of the drugs is low and the country has saved more since it no longer has to pay for CD4 laboratory tests.

“Because the price of the drugs has been coming down so rapidly, we are now treating almost twice the number of people for the same cost as that of a few years ago.

“Overall, the provision of the treatment is cost-effective - the cost of the treatment is less than the financial burden of getting sick if you don’t take the treatment.

“Right now, we think we are treating just over 3.5 million people. We think we going to have to put about 6.5 million people on treatment. More than half our patients need treatment.”

Meanwhile, Treatment Action Campaign provincial leader Mzamo Zondi said it wanted the government to trace patients who tested HIV-positive but were not eligible for treatment based on their CD4 count.

“The campaign fully supports the Test and Treat programme, but the government must go back and check files in hospitals and clinics and trace those people who tested positive but were not eligible to start treatment because of their CD4 count.

“The campaign is committed to finding those people.

“In KwaZulu-Natal, the Test and Treat programme is so far going well.

Zondi said the organisation was also concerned about the treatment adherence. He said the programme would be more of a success if the government looked after the community health-care workers.

“The story of Aids is different today compared with many years ago. Many lives have been saved by ARVs (antiretroviral drugs), but we know there are people who do not stick to the treatment.

“During the Aids conference, the executive director of UNAids, Michel Sidibé, said the world need a million health-care workers; and South Africa alone needs 200 000.

“We saw officials nodding heads. But it has to happen. We need health-care workers,” he said.

“For the programme to be successful, the government must provide all necessary resources to the health-care workers. The state must employ them permanently and pay them better salaries.

Health-care workers play a vital role in making sure that people get tested and those on treatment adhere to it,” said Zondi.

Although the country had made great strides in dealing with HIV/Aids, the prevalence among the youth was still high. Research showed that young people between the ages of 15 and 24 had the highest risk of infection, especially women.

Zondi challenged traditional leaders and churches to include sex educational programmes.

“Many programmes have been put in place in South Africa. The only problem now is one of behavioural change and something needs to be done about that. We hear that HIV is most prevalent among young people, so how can we prevent this?

“The conservative churches need to speak openly about sex - they must have sex education programmes.

“This also applies to the conservative traditional leaders, who believe that sex education encourages young people to have sex. That is not true. There is nothing to hide now.

“People must know about sex so that they can know

how to protect themselves,” said Zondi.

Sunday Tribune

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