HIV proj

[flightypotato]

I'm looking for articles about how easy or hard it is to manage a treatment programme for people with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa when anti-retrovirals are free - and I can't find a lot. Urgh. The thing is, HIV treatment is for life, and people taking any kind of lifelong treatment are likely to find this hard, especially so in an environment where the health system is not geared up to deal with 'chronic' problems. There isn't much in the way of institutional support. Obviously, missing doses means the virus multiplies unchecked, your immune system suffers, and you're more at risk of getting other infections and cancers. But additionally, missing doses also includes the risk of the virus mutating into a strain that's resistant to whatever combination of drugs you were taking; and if it manages to get passed on to another person, treating HIV in the community suddenly becomes even more difficult.

So it's messy.

How do you define 'adherence'?
How do you measure adherence?

BLEH