Not adhering to ARVS among adolescents could fuel new infections - study
Adolescents respond well to antiretroviral therapy but have challenges of disclosing to other people. Sometimes, lack of adherence can result into poor outcomes, for example becoming very sick and even dying.
ADOLESCENTS HIV HEALTH
Adolescents in Uganda living with HIV risk becoming critically ill or dying because they fear to disclose their status and once, they do, they do not adhere to the treatment, a new study reveals.
"These adolescents respond well to antiretroviral therapy but have challenges of disclosing to other people. Sometimes, lack of adherence can result into poor outcomes, for example becoming very sick and even dying," said Dr Sabrina Bakeera Kitaka, the lead investigator.
Kitaka was defending her PhD in medical sciences from the University of Antwerp Belgium School of Health Sciences during an online jury session on Wednesday.
She said she was the first to defend her PhD online because of the COVID-19 concerns.
Dr Kitaka who doubles as consultant paediatrician and a senior lecturer in the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at Makerere University College of Health Sciences said the consequences of not adhering to treatment get worse once they start engaging in sexual relationships. "The risk of transmitting HIV infection to other people increases," she notes.
Who is an adolescent?
Adolescents are individuals aged between 10 to 19 years, according to the World Health Organization. Adolescence is typically a period of detachment from parents, peer influence, experimentation, new experiences and therefore vulnerability.
Data
Worldwide, about 1.8 million adolescents aged between 10 to 19 years are living with HIV. Of these 85% are in sub-Saharan Africa and about 60% of them are girls.
For Uganda specifically, a total of 130,000 adolescents aged between 10-19, are living with HIV. This puts the HIV prevalence among adolescent in Uganda at 2.8%, against the national HIV prevalence of 6.4% according to the Uganda AIDS Control Program (ACP, 2018)
Lessons learnt
The University of Antwerp Belgium School of Health Sciences has been collaborating with Makerere University and Uganda in general since 2004. Consequently, several people have had their PhDs from the same University.
However, the unique bit for Dr Sabrina is that she was the first to defend her PhD online because of the COVID-19 concerns.
"Online PhD defence is possible and that schools should not stop because of COVID19. The new norm will be social distancing and utilization of electronic media engagement," notes Dr Kitaka.
Moving forward
She urged government to support the young people adhere well to their treatment, in addition to supporting them navigate through this period of adolescence.
Kitaka, however, said this can best be achieved through training of health workers on how to deal with HIV infected adolescents. Plus, ensuring government prioritizes interventions that will support them.