Clinics in the Grahamstown area are happy to announce that the roll-out of antiretrovirals (ARVs), to HIV-positive patients with a CD4 count of 350 and less, is now fully operational.
Clinics in the Grahamstown area are happy to announce that the roll-out of antiretrovirals (ARVs), to HIV-positive patients with a CD4 count of 350 and less, is now fully operational.
Grocott's Mail consulted the health department's sub district manager in Grahamstown, Nikiwe Mthoba, who confirmed that after the government's policy on ARVs was revised earlier this year, the district programme director for ARVs gave them the go-ahead to start giving the medication to patients earlier in the progression of the disease.
Before April patients could only receive free ARV medication from the government if their CD4 count was at 200 and below. The CD4 count refers to the number of special white blood cells that protect the immune system, and as the number of these cells drops, so the body loses its immunity to disease. Counting the CD4 cells present in the blood helps keep track of the progress of the patient's disease.
After acknowledging the rise in HIV/Aids-related deaths in South Africa, the national health department decided to administer ARVs to patients sooner. Before this change came about in April, only pregnant women and people with TB were allowed to start ARVs at a CD4 count of 350 and below. People with multi drug resistant (MDR) or extreme drug resistant (XDR) TB are given ARVs immediately, regardless of their CD4 count.
According to the health department's provincial spokesperson, Sizwe Kupelo, it is part of the government's new strategy to fight HIV/Aids in the country, and there are about 192 000 people that are taking ARV treatment in the Eastern Cape alone.
