There have been different doubts in the mind of people, doubting if HIV drugs are free and accessible in Nigeria. Others want to know more about the situational reports of HIV treatment in Nigeria. Through interviews with a resourced person who has first hand information, experience and knowledge on the subject matter, a lot of questions have been answered.
- Is
HIV drugs free in Nigeria?
During a question and answer section with Eyo Saviour who is a Technical Officer,
Quality Improvement in Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria, stated that HIV drugs
is totally free in Nigeria. However, some facilities do collect the normal
service fees for accessing other care related to HIV treatment as well as other
screenings tests.
- How
many drugs are patients to be taken?
They are taken on a day basis. Other drugs include
Drugs for Opportunistic Infections (OIs) like Cotrimoxazole and Rifampicin. Also
With TB being the leading cause of Opportunistic Infections (OIs) also leading
to 30% f HIV related mortality, there's need for TB preventive treatments which
is Isoniazide Preventive therapy (INH), which is another drugs also essential
for optimized client care. Apart
from the ARVs Patients will take other different drugs for Opportunistic
Infections (OIs). ARVs include: TLD (Tenofovir, Lamivudine, Delutegravir).
Others are (Retonavir, Abacavir, palette) which are mostly 1st line
Regimens. Recently they have been an improvement of patient health outcomes
with a new class of drugs called DTG (both for adults and pediatric).
- How
long does it take patients to be undetectable after treatment?
With TLD being referred to as a magical drugs for
crashing viral loads, patients on TLD with good adherence could become TND
within 6-8 weeks of treatment, if they
don't experience other complications within the first phase of the drugs or if
they are with an underlying illness.
- Is
there any implication if patients missed taking their drugs?
Non adherence is the leading cause of treatment failure
in patients with HIV and also underlying illness.
- Is
HIV still a disease one should be scared of?
Yes, HIV is a highly scary disease everyone must prevent against since once infected cannot be reversed as there is no cure yet. Also other preventive measure could include use of condoms, and Pre exposure prophylaxis as well as Post exposure prophylaxis within 72 hours of exposure.
Resourced Person:
Eyoh Saviour,
Technical
Officer, Quality Improvement,
Catholic Caritas
Foundation of Nigeria.
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