Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy

Adherence is defined as mutual decision making. The patient understands and agrees in consultation with the health care provider to make behaviour changes that improve his/her health. Without proper adherence, the chances of treatment failure are greatly increased. Additionally, the virus could mutate leading to increased drug resistance and making fewer treatment options available in the population.

Adherence Management:

Currently, adherence is managed in the following ways:

• Regular CD4 and viral load tests are used to measure whether treatment is working.
• Regular check-ups, pill counts and adherence counselling are all used to measure adherence levels.

As we move into the future, the ARV program will be working with various stakeholders to strengthen mechanisms of community-based adherence support.

Strategies for improving adherence:

• Mompati or treatment buddy
• Psycho-social support
• On-going adherence counselling and support
• Community home-based care
• Support groups
• Standardization of adherence messaging across all service providers
• Establishment of treatment failure management clinics
• Training on Medication Adherence