Monday, September 1, 2008

SWANNEPA MEDIA FORUM - Adherence and Challenges


SWANNEPHA'S Phindile Dlamini


The Swaziland Network for People Who Live With HIV And AIDS has periodical meetings with media personnel. The SWANNEPA media forum is basically, the brain storming session where people who are living with the virus meet with journalists and discuss issues affecting the patients and to raise concerns about their stories are reported by the local media.
The recent media forum we discussed the challenges facing adherence to HIV therapy.

They expressed dissatisfaction on crackdown on the companies, traditional doctors, traditional doctors and relogious personnel that claim to cure HIV and AIDS then turn around encourage patients to stop ARV's . They felt they need a strict policy to deal with the perpetrators.



The problems caused by different companies manufacturing the same ARV's was discussed. Legal implications and other family challenges that might occur in the event the doctor with a close relative might find themselves into after having started a patient in ARV's when that patient is in comer.
Children's adherence remains a challenge. The issue of children's rights comes to the fore since, since parental decision is sought before the child can start medication.


What happens in the event the parents refuse the child's treatment because of religious grounds and other religious myths?

The participants were ignorant above the move to purchase children's tablets to replace the syrup which are an an inconvenience to children because because of taste

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