adminNokuthaba Mathema Chronicle Reporter
MORE than 8 500 People Living With HIV and Aids in the country including 608 children have developed resistance to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in the first quarter of this year, according to the National Aids Council (NAC). The development has been attributed to poor health service delivery by hospitals across the country which resulted in some patients defaulting treatment.
In an interview recently, NAC Monitoring and Evaluation director, Mr Amon Mpofu said 4 683 women were on second line ARVs.
He said although the number of people resistant to ARVs had decreased from 8 739 to 8 560 in the last quarter of 2012 the statistics for children and women was increasing. “For the first quarter of 2013, there were 608 children, 4 683 women and 3 2 69 men who were resistant to ARVs.
Overally the number is 8 560. This means that patients resistant to ARVs become recipients of second line ARVs,” said Mr Mpofu.
“In the fourth quarter of 2012, there were 489 children, 4 812 women, 3 438 men who developed resistance to ARVs.”
Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV (ZNNP+) national chairperson Mr Sebastian Chinhaire on Thursday accused hospital staff of failing to provide adequate information regarding the pandemic.
“Some hospital and clinic staff do not have time to explain how patients should take the drugs. Some patients end up taking the second line of ARVs that are expensive because of ignorance,” said Mr Chinhaire.
An estimated 45 000 people died last year of HIV related diseases while about 1,2 million people in the country are living with the virus.
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