Published on : 22/05/2021 – 00:19
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In Uganda, the Ministry of Health estimates that around 1.4 million people are HIV positive in the country. But if the treatment is free, many decide not to take their medication. Fear of discrimination, denial of the disease, depression, doctors must do a real job of raising awareness to ensure that their patients follow their recommendations.
Every morning at 7 a.m., the same routine when she wakes up, Kristina never forgets to take her medication. ” I keep my pills at the top of my cupboard, so that they stay cool, away from heat. »
HIV positive for several years, her treatment was difficult to accept at first. Between depression and fear of stigma, she decided to stop taking her medication for a while.
« At one point, I wanted to stop, and let myself die. I felt like even if I told my family, they would never fully accept me. So I wanted to stop my treatment, but I realized it was for my life, for my good, so I resumed because I realized that I had something to lose », Explains the young woman.
In one of the clinics in central Kampala, Immaculate is waiting for his medication. When she tested positive as a teenager, she also initially refused treatment. Because in his boarding school, impossible to hide from everyone, the time to take his pills.
« My comrades started to wonder why I always went to see the supervisor, they asked: “is she HIV positive? What is wrong with her?“So I refused to take my medication for a while, but the remarks worsened, because without my treatment, redness appeared on my skin. ».
Avoid arousing suspicion
Many HIV-positive people stop taking their medication to avoid arousing the suspicion of those close to them and to keep their status secret. But stopping treatment for months on end had serious consequences for Immaculate.
« I became resistant to the first treatment, and had to switch to the second. It was then that I realized that HIV was real, and that I had to take my medication if I wanted to live. Because the third treatment is not free like the others in Uganda, it is very expensive ».
In the clinic, Dr Lubega is confronted every day with HIV-positive patients who refuse their treatment. With the many advisers who work with him, he tries as best he can to explain to them the consequences of this choice.
« When you forget to take the treatment for a while, your antivirus will drop sharply, and you risk contracting AIDS. And everything will be even more complicated: HIV positive patients cannot hide it, when you have AIDS, our body changes and our loved ones notice it. We become very thin, and the others can guess that we are sick »
In Uganda, the Ministry of Health estimates that 5.6% of the population is HIV positive.
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