adminTHE National Aids Council (NAC) plans to introduce an electronic system to track HIV patients as it moves to reduce defaulting on Antiretroviral (ARV) therapy.NAC monitoring and evaluation director Amon Mpofu said defaulting on treatment was derailing national efforts to reduce the HIV burden.
Mpofu said patients usually stopped taking medication when they moved from one place to another and the existing manual tracking system had loopholes.
“NAC is working with the Ministry of Health to develop an electronic patient tracking system because we discovered that when you register with a hospital but you move to another town there is need for a record so that people can access treatment from any hospital without difficulty,” Mpofu told the Senate thematic committee on Health and Child Welfare on Monday.
“This will help us reduce defaulters.”
He said the new electronic system would ensure that ART clients did not default treatment even after moving to another town.
“Some people are moving from one point to another, but for re-supplies they have to go back to their site. So we’re already engaging data capture clerks in all hospitals who are entering all the names of those on ART in computers so that we have this electronic system and support it to improve the quality of service,” he said.
Mpofu said research carried out by NAC showed that people living with HIV stopped taking medication when they felt better.
“Also when people take long time on treatment they end up just forgetting. So we need to preach the message that even when you feel better you need to continue taking the drugs,” he said.
Mpofu said communities should also ensure that people living with HIV stuck to treatment as defaulting causes resistance which is costly to treat.
“Those people who are defaulting on treatment are sitting on a time bomb. Because if you stop treatment when you feel you are well then you develop drug resistant strain and that strain is very costly because second line and third line treatment is very costly.
“So this is why we are preaching the message of adhering to treatment,” he said. – New Ziana
Online Reporter