Lack of skills of Govt. Doctors in treating with 2nd line ART

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum members

I would like to share my friend experiences in taking second-line ART. He

developed diarrhea recently and went to the nearby government ART centre.

The doctors in that ART centre could not able to diagnose why He was having

Diarrhoea though they knew he was on protease inhibitors, which may produce

Diarrhea.

They asked him to visit some other specialists in a private-hospital run HIV

treatment centre. He consulted with both NGO-run and private-hospital run HIV

treatment centres and they mentioned that Diarrhoea could be because of his

drugs as they could not find any microbes

in his specimen.

He is wondering why doctors in the government ART centres could not able to

diagnose that it was only drug-induced diarrhea. And in case his side-effect

continues, what options exist for him in the government ART centres?

He think the doctors managing ART centres should have adequate training to

diagnose and treat side-effects and complications of both first- and second-line

ART.

Also, doctors should have access to lab tests to rule out

the various causes of side-effect related symptoms in people living with HIV.

Also, there should be other options for PLHIV who develop intolerance to the

currently available second-line ART in the government centres.

Sincerely

*Ramesh*

Namakkal, Tamil Nadu,

e-mail: <rameshplha@...>