Extra counselling sessions prompt more Hong Kong HIV patients to take medicine on time
Doctors warn that laxness in taking prescriptions can lead to a resurgence of the virus
HIV patients in Queen Elizabeth Hospital are taking drugs on time more often after receiving extra counselling and being given personalised treatment plans.
The drug adherence rate, which measures whether patients are taking drugs on time, has increased to 98 per cent from 83 per cent in 2009 among HIV patients in the Yau Ma Tei hospital.
The extra counselling service was introduced as the annual number of new HIV patients treated at the hospital increased from around 80 in 2003 to 140 last year.
Patients who suffer from the deadly disease have to take lifetime medication to suppress the HIV virus level, but the discipline needed to take drugs on time can be challenging.
They must take three or more types of pills once or twice a day – either every 12 or 24 hours.
“It is not hard to swallow pills. What challenges me is how to fit the [medication habit] into my daily routine,” said Mr Chan, an HIV patient who has been struggling with the virus since 2001.