City calls on ‘lost’ HIV/Aids patients to come back
JOBURG – The City's Department of Health calls on its 'lost' HIV/Aids patients to return to lifelong treatment.
Velisha Thompson of the City of Johannesburg writes:
Although there is much awareness and knowledge on the dreaded HIV/Aids disease, South Africa is struggling with patients adhering and being retained on treatment.
Retention in HIV care refers to continuous engagement from when a patient is first diagnosed and thereafter linked to a package of prevention, treatment, support and care services and thereafter retention in lifelong ARVs. Retention of HIV treatment is extremely important in reducing the HIV epidemic in South Africa.
Despite the interventions in retaining people living with HIV on treatment, there is a large proportion who are not on antiretroviral therapy which could be due to poor engagement in long-term clinical care and retention.
HIV prevalence and incidence rates are still significantly high in South Africa, hence the need for Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to implement the 90:90:90 targets to help end the Aids epidemic.
The target moving towards the progress of eliminating HIV/Aids by 2020 is where 90 per cent of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status, 90 per cent of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 90 per cent of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.
South Africa launched Operation Phuthuma in 2019 to rapidly accelerate towards the 90-90-90 targets.
The City’s Department of Health in Region E would like to welcome back our patients who missed their treatment for a number of reasons such as moving homes, relocating, busy at work, or being tired of the treatment and did not want to continue.
We will not be upset over the reasons for you leaving but would rather seek to help you and make you feel more comfortable. We need to focus on making you access health services easier.
My parting shot is: Get onto treatment immediately and live long. Our clinics are waiting with friendly staff who are waiting to help you with what you need.
Related article:
https://alexnews.co.za/141842/next-generation-hiv-prevention-drug-gets-fda-approval/
