Level of Adherence towards Art and the Barriers Encountered by HIV +ve Clients in Madurai, South India

Around half of the people who acquire Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV) become infected before they turn 25 and typically die of the life threatening illness called Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) before 35th birthday. (UNAIDS, 2008).. WHO (2008) estimated that the deaths occurred by AIDS in 2007 were 2 million. Anti retroviral therapy has transformed HIV infection into a treatable, chronic condition (Melvin and Sherr, 2007).The online edition of the Lancet (2008) suggested that the continuous, regular ARV treatment reduces the rate of AIDS development and death in HIV positive patients by 28%. Non-adherence is a main if not the most important factor in treatment failure and the development of resistance. To make sure that HIV treatment works effectively it is important that the drugs are taken on time (Keystone Symposia, 2007) According to NACO (2009) the most common cause of ART failure is poor adherence. Adherence should be assessed and routinely reinforced by everyone in the clinical team (physician, Nurses, Counsellors, pharmacist, peer educators, NGO workers etc) to maintain optimum level of adherence.