Rise in ARV defaulters is alarming – activist
"The community needs to change its mindset and stop discriminating against people who are taking ARV therapy."
Stigma and discrimination have led some people living with HIV/Aids default on their treatment at local facilities.
Mamelodi Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) raised concerns when it found out that the number of people defaulting on their anti-retroviral (ARV) drug treatment in Tshwane has doubled.
Campaign chairperson Rinah Semadi said the number of defaulters is very alarming and local facilities are to blame.
“December is HIV/Aids Awareness Month, and we want to remind everyone about the importance of testing and knowing their status.”
She said staff attitude at local clinics was to blame, especially for young defaulters.
“The nurses have a bad attitude towards young people and discourage them by shouting at them as if they are to blame for finding themselves in this difficult situation.
“This has in turn led to high mortality as defaulters become ill, then die because of the attitudes of the nurses at the local clinics,” said Semadi.
Another thing that dissuaded people from continuing their therapy was standing in long queues as there is a shortage of clinic staff at these facilities, she added.
She said these issues could be resolved by hiring more staff and changing attitudes towards patients.
“This also goes for community: they need to change their mindset and stop discriminating against people who are taking ARV therapy.
“The Department of Health must have functional user-friendly clinics where patients face no discrimination,” she said.
Semadi suggested that medication also be wrapped in non-identifiable packaging to enable patients to accept their medication without embarrassment.
She said stigma around the disease was still a problem in communities causing patients queuing up for ARVs shame and inevitably give away their status to locals.
“We want to encourage the public to take their medication very seriously and look after their health.”
The organisation encouraged the public, especially young people of teenage age, to get tested and know their status because they were a high risk group for the disease.
She further encouraged the public to continue using protection at all times during sex.
She also encouraged communities to raise their concerns and frustrations about the problems they faced at their local clinics.
Mamelodi TAC said it could help the public to overcome the challenge of defaulting.
ALSO READ; Pretoria east residents fear dark festive season due to consistent power problems
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
