Scaling-Up Antiretroviral Therapy in Tanzania: Perspectives of Users

Abstract

Introduction: Several African countries, in response to the 2015 WHO guidelines recommending that all diagnosed as HIV positive be enrolled in Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), have introduced treatment centers in an attempt to reach that population. Tanzania has been in the forefront of this effort. The HIV prevalence there is 5.9 % for those 15-49 years of age. Such a high prevalence rate can negatively affect the economic development of Tanzania. This paper explores the perspectives of a targeted population of Tanzanian individuals living with HIV, and examines their selfperception and the ways they manage their illness. Method: The study was conducted in Dar es Salaam among a population using ART. Two hundred individuals were interviewed at four treatment centers. Based upon systematic review of the literature on self-management of people living with HIV, the author developed specific questions that explored the respondents’ views on self-management, adherence to ART, their stigmatizing by others, and their views about condom and about the overall attitudes of their health care providers. Results: A majority of respondents reported learning about their HIV status by accident through voluntary testing. About eighty-five reported living with HIV for the past fifteenyears. We found that 68.5% have not informed their family members or significant others about their HIV status. Overwhelmingly, they were opposed to free distribution of condoms and preferred abstinence as the first line of defense against the disease. While majority of respondents received care from designated government and private clinics, some mentioned the need to provide more ART services. Conclusion: About half of the respondents reported that the services they received were at the level they expected but they argued that better management of staff time and greater staff sensitivity toward how the patient are perceived would have helped them better manage their treatment options. Several described the lack of privacy at the clinics, and some questioned whether care would be better handled through other means. The sample for this study is not a random sample of the entire population, in that all of them have tested HIV-positive and were receiving ART from a specific health facility. Our findings suggest that ART is improving the lives of Tanzanians. Citation: Quaye R (2018) Scaling-Up Antiretroviral Therapy in Tanzania: Perspectives of Users. J AIDS Clin Res 9: 777. doi: 10.4172/21556113.1000777