Marseille 2007
| Abstract #32 - HIV treatment access, delivery and uncertainty: a qualitative study in Serbia and in Montenegro. | ||||
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Session: 42.1: Wellbeing and quality of life (Parallel) on Tuesday @ 16.30-18.30 in Auditorium/Overflow Chaired by Anna Liguori, Richard Harding Authors: Presenting Author: Miss Sarah Bernays - London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom |
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| Additional Authors: Dr Tim Rhodes, Miss Ana Prodanovic, | ||||
| Aim: The unprecedented global scale up of HIV treatment access has attracted much research, but there is an absence of qualitative research investigating the experience of HIV treatment access and delivery from the perspectives of people living with HIV (PLHIV), especially those in low and middle income countries. This study aimed to describe the lived experience of HIV treatment in a transitional resource-stretched setting. | ||||
| Method / Issue: Adopting a qualitative methodology we conducted in-depth interviews with 60 PLHIV and service providers in Serbia and in Montenegro, with prospective interviews ongoing, focusing on experiences of the HIV treatment system and of managing HIV as a chronic illness. | ||||
| Results / Comments: The study found that HIV treatment access is perceived as fragile among PLHIV. They experienced frequent interruptions in treatment access due to ongoing delivery problems. The findings show that treatment opportunity, within the context of inconsistent delivery, is both risk reductive and risk productive. This has a significant impact on the perceptions PLHIV have of their health, their futures and their ability to participate in HIV-related community action. | ||||
| Discussion: Fragile HIV treatment access has serious implications for the sustainable management of HIV as a chronic illness, for community participation and for HIV prevention efforts in Serbia and in Montenegro. Within the context of global treatment scale up, which is characterized by structural constraints, treatment inconsistency and uncertainty are likely to be increasingly experienced elsewhere. These findings have global as well as regional relevance not only as an example of why treatment systems may fail but also by establishing evidence about the adverse psychological and social consequences of fragile treatment delivery and the need to respond to support both PLHIV and service providers. | ||||
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