DEATH ON DEFAULT ON ARV DRUGS

AIDS authorities in Papua New Guinea report the large numbers of HIV sufferers who die through default.

One nurse at an AIDS centre went to the waiting room with a handful of health books and called the holders. She pointed out that it is now March. How was it that several people in a random sample had not come back for new supplies due in February?

Many people default in taking ARV medication or fail to obtain new supplies.

If sufferers default on daily intake of drugs, they are laying themselves open to immunity of the virus and death.

The drugs have to be taken every day at the same time. There is the need for the person to have clear head. To be drunk or high on drugs, it is likely that the person will forget to take the ART. That is fatal.