Providing antiretroviral treatment for HIV-positive Africans in their own homes has proven to be an effective strategy for combating the virus, cutting AIDS-related deaths from the virus by more than 90 percent, BBC News reports (newsvote.bbc.co.uk).
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control in Kenya followed 1,000 people living with the virus in rural Uganda who were visited in their homes by paid staff. The workers—who are not clinically trained—resupplied patients with medications and consulted with them about possible side effects. Costing only 25 cents per day per patient, the study eliminated patients’ need to go to a clinic.
“Getting HIV treatment to people who live in rural areas is difficult, and this could have an impact,” says Dr. Ade Fakoya, advisor to the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. “This is affordable, and could be carried out on a larger scale.”
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Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
