Sharing ARVs - this is scary

Editor | Wednesday December 8, 2010 00:00

The government of Botswana has gone to greater lengths and expenses to provide anti-retroviral therapy and other associated medication for people living with AIDS.

Statistics show that up to 97 percent of breastfeeding mothers that are supposed to be on treatment are already on Mother to Child treatment. Over 150 000 people are on anti-retrovirals.

When delivering his World AIDS Day keynote address, President Ian Khama, said government is spending over P 1.3 billion, this is a lot of money.

The idea that ARVs can be shared between patients, some of whom might not be on treatment, is absurd.  This practice could undo all the efforts and the gains that have been made in the efforts to fight HIV/AIDS.  We will never know the reason why this is done.

Government has made tremendous effort in decentralising the dispensing of Anti-Retrovirals.  Nowadays ARVs are dispensed even in little hamlets such as health posts unlike in the past when these were done in major clinics and hospitals in cities and towns only.  We thought this attempt will encourage everyone to come forward and be put on treatment.  It would seem there are still some other people who despite their status have remained behind to enroll in the ARV programmes. 

Could it be due to stigma?  We thought this nation has made significant strides in de-stigmatisation of HIV/AIDS. 

This could be a challenge to health practitioners and all of us that the war against stigma has not been won yet.

We need to impress on our relatives and friends that they should know their status so that they can then be enrolled on ARV programmes.  This will of course obviate the need for anyone to want to share drugs when they can themselves obtain their own drugs without any hassle.

There are obvious dangers in sharing the drugs.  These drugs are recommended by doctors depending on the viral load and any over-dosage or under-dosage could be detrimental to all those who take them outside the doctors' prescriptions.

We hear that in some other places some patients who take the medication in low dosage react negatively to the treatment.  After the many counselling sessions that were done prior to the treatment one would have hoped that the patients will know better than to share their medication.

While we would want to sympathise with non-Batswana who live with HIV/AIDS, but would not be given ARV treatment as they are non-nationals, we still believe that this is no justification for their partners or friends to share ARV drugs with them.

The case of non-nationals who live in Botswana but cannot be enrolled on treatment is a complicated one particularly that it presents a possibility of re-infection.  We hope Non-Governmental Organisations could intervene and not leave the burden on government alone.

                                            Today's thought

        'Batswana share the medicines with their neighbours, relatives and friends.'

                                          - Rakubu Kagisano, an ARV nurse