adminmore people will need to be put on ARVs. Nearly 500 000 people living with HIV are on treatment and raising the initiation stage to a cd4 count of 500 will mean more people should be put on treatment.
Aids and TB Unit director in the Health and Child Welfare ministry, Dr Owen Mugurungi said if ARV initiation is raised to the proposed 500, the country would have to provide about 750 000 people with ARVs from an estimated 1,2 million people living with HIV.
“WHO have not yet made a statement on the issue but what we know is that there are people who are advocating for the raise. If this is effected, more funding will be required and as you know our programme depends on partners and donors, it will mean a strain on our budgets.
ARV drugs have a negative interaction with the immune system when they are introduced and the new patients run the risk of developing drug resistance when the drugs interact negatively with their system,” he said.
Online Reporter