Managing HIV/AIDS
By Bolajoko Ogungbile

High blood pressure, diabetes and even some forms of cancer, as deadly as they may be, can be managed. So when it comes to HIV/AIDS, why do we see it as an automatic death sentence? 

Malaria, which affects about 300 million people in Africa each year, kills between one and five million of those patients. High blood pressure, another deadly disease, is often called the ‘silent killer’ because there are few symptoms of the condition that can lead to fatal heart attacks. The list of deadly but controllable diseases is long, but includes one often-overlooked virus that ironically, causes the biggest commotion – HIV/AIDS. 

Testing positive to HIV does not equate to a death sentence on the individual, as erroneously assumed by some people, if the disease is well managed.  

Across the world, doctors, advocates and patients themselves are calling attention to the fact that HIV/AIDS can be managed like any other disease and the patients made to live normal lives. 

In fact, not everyone who tests positive to HIV are required to take drug treatment right away. Of the six million-odd Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS, only 630,000 require anti-retroviral treatment – a therapy that suppresses the effects of HIV and prolongs life for many living with the virus. While some patients are placed on drugs, others take less-drastic steps to keep their immune systems strong by eating the right kind of food and maintaining a positive attitude. All of this depends on a patient’s CD4 cell count (a measure of the number of disease-fighting cells in the body), as diagnosed by a medical doctor. 

Victor Omosehin, the secretary of the Positive Youth Association of Nigeria, has been positive for a year now. According to him, “I tested positive last year and I am not on drug; all I do is to eat well and exercise.” 

Felix Dada (not the real name), also an HIV patient, argued that being HIV positive is not a death sentence and instead, positive people should work towards having a positive attitude towards life, and strict adherence to treatment where necessary. 

According to him, “I don’t like eating too much, but I have to eat well because of the drug I am taking. Since I started using the antiretroviral drug in 2003, I have not at any time taken ill, and I’ve not even failed to be where I am supposed to be on the ground of ill heath.” 

Having a positive attitude and strict adherence to the prescribed treatments is as important as the air we breathe in – whether you are HIV positive or a person living with diabetes.  

According to Dr. Daniel George, a community medicine consultant in Ikeja Lagos: “Most antiretroviral (ARV) medications involves three or more medications and each taken 1 to 3 times a day, with potential side effects. Each medication can have difficult rules about food. One may require an empty stomach, while another may need to be taken during a meal; so when you are traveling or busy at work or feeling sick, it really matters if you miss just one dose of medication.” 

Medical experts have stated that adherence, which describes a patient’s ability to take their medication as prescribed, has an effect on how well ARV medication stops the HIV virus from reproducing. Adherence is also important in how closely you follow a prescribed treatment regime. It includes your willingness to start treatment and your ability to take medications exactly as directed. It actualizes how well anti-HIV treatment decreases your viral load. 

Adherence is so important in the treatment of HIV that researchers have found that optimal suppression of the virus requires 90% to 95% adherence. 

Failure to adhere can also cause drug resistance; this happens when the virus makes copies of itself, and it can also make copies that have undergone mutation (a change in the form of HIV). Some of these mutations may be resistant to the medication you are taking and render them useless. 

Felix attributes lack of adherence to factors like tiredness after working for hours, lack of interest in taking drugs, and business, but counseled that no one can be too busy to save their own life. 

Analysts have attributed other factors causing lack of  adherence to unpleasant medication side-effects such as nausea, sleeping through doses, forgetting to take medication and feeling sick or depressed, but counseled that the patient should talk to their doctor about their lifestyle (travel, eat, sleep and working schedule, side effect of drug, other drugs you are taking and their possible interaction with anti- HIV medication) if they are having such problems.

[ Back to Training Update ]