POLOKWANE – About two weeks ago a patient, who wished to remain anonymous, alerted BONUS about the ill treatment and continued failure to receive her prescribed for HIV/aids treatment from the clinic.
“It was time for me to collect my next batch of medication on Friday, 6 July and I got up early to go to the clinic so that I could be close to the front of the queue so I don’t have to spend the entire day there. But as usual, we waited for hours to be assisted. To my surprise, service delivery was taking longer than other days,” the patient said.
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She said even the administrative assistant was not available to open their file numbers as they waited to be checked by a nurse or doctor. “Usually we get here and open a file then queue to check our blood pressure and weight before waiting to be called in by a doctor or nurse for our individual checkups. At times our medical reports were lost and then we are forced to start medical procedures from scratch otherwise there would be no way forward.”
She said she was sent home with only a few tablets to last the weekend and was told by clinic staff to come back on Monday to receive treatment as there was no doctor, nurse or administrative assistant to help her on the day.
Returning to the clinic on Monday, however, she still did not receive any assistance and again she couldn’t open a file due to the absence of an administrative assistant. As a result, she had to go almost five days without taking treatment.
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“It is very upsetting as not only does this affect the progression of my health but also puts me at risk of losing my job as I have been taking too much time off work to visit the clinic in an attempt to get my treatment.”
BONUS alerted the Department of Health about the matter but as yet no response has been received.
BONUS spoke to a private doctor, Dr Khomotso Tsebe, to find out what dangers patients with chronic illnesses such as HIV/aids face due to not adhering to treatment and this is what she said.
“Anti-retroviral (ARV) treatments do not cure HIV/aids as there is still no cure for the disease. It does, however, slow down the damage the virus does to the immune system and allows people to live long, productive lives like everyone else, without succumbing to the disease. So if a person is without the treatment for a prolonged period of time, they may be at greater risk of becoming ill faster. For instance, their immune system may become resistant to the drug, making it harder for the immune system to fight the virus or even causing the medication to no longer work when resumed,” she explained.
Tsebe explained that if the ARV treatment is stopped or not taken at the right time each day, the virus takes advantage of this and starts to make copies of itself again. Sometimes the copies change a little bit, and the ARV medication will not be as effective against them. Also, if a patient’s immune system becomes resistant to the medication, it increases their chances for transmission.
“Apart from eating healthy and exercising, it is important to take the medication as prescribed and to not miss or skip medication. Patients may set alarms or ask family and friends they trust to help with this reminder and must definitely not wait until the last minute to collect their next medication supply,” she concluded.
