Ethiopia: Over 40 Thousand AIDS patients stop ART
By Tesfa-alem Tekle
June 24, 2008 (ADDIS ABABA) — Some 25% of the total AIDS patients who were taking protection drugs in Ethiopia have pulled-out of the national antiretroviral treatment program(ART). The National HIV/AIDS prevention and control office said.
Office representative, Desalegn Tesfay in a round-table held in Addis Ababa said that among the total 156,360 adult Aids patients who were embraced under the ART program 40,282 of them have pulled out for various reasons.
Beyond the above figures stated,20% of a total 7,000 HIV positive children,some 1,400 children who originally within the program have also discontinued the therapy
According to Clinton foundation director, Dr.Yigerem Abebe, Transport constraints, unstable residential status, luck of knowledge, religious and traditional pressures among others are the reasons driving patients out of a persistent antiretroviral treatment program.
Beyond risking their life the patients are being exposed to psychological side effects. It was told.
During the discussion, an awareness creating and lesson providing special centers are suggested to be opened across the nation so that a proper usage of the AIDS drugs will be created.
Personal Problems of the drop out patients must be examined and efforts must be exerted for patients to continue their therapy. it was underlined.
In 2003 the Ethiopian ministry of health launched to implement a national antiretroviral treatment (ART) program.
Though Ethiopia has shown a momentum in curbing the spread of AIDS still a lot remains to be done specially in the remote rural areas of the country where relatively there is less awareness but high risk however still an area that lucks high attention.
AIDS has claimed the lives of over a million Ethiopians over the past two decades.
According to WHO latest reports some 1.7 million Ethiopians live with deadly virus HIV.
(ST)