People living with HIV in Kibra have been urged to show commitment in taking Anti-retrovirals (ARVs) as prescribed by their doctors to live longer.
According to health officers dealing with the group in the area, there are many who tend to give up on medication along the way. They say that others also fail to show up for their dose as required. This is attributed to stigma, other commitments and a negative attitude towards the drugs.
Dr Isabel Oluoch of Kibera Health Centre has raised concerns over what she terms as lack of commitment among the group, "There is a challenge especially when it comes to them taking their drugs according to the calendar set for them by the doctor. Sometimes we are forced to call them via phone or even literally to come for the drugs," she expressed.
She explains some of the activities that the medics do as follow-ups for victims to keep them on constant drugs as required, "There is a preferred dose that is prescribed by the doctors and normally we expect the victims to report back after every three months when we renew their drugs and also give counselling services. We normally have support groups that give us airtime to make phone calls to the group because there are those who may forget or may be held up by other activities."
"Unfortunately there are those who fail to report totally despite our efforts to call them. There are those who fail to take our calls while others respond when at a far distance attending to personal issues," she added.
She is encouraging the people to cooperate since the drugs and the counselling services are offered free of charge in public hospitals.