In South Sudan, Antiretroviral Therapy Gives Man a Second Chance to Live

In South Sudan, Antiretroviral Therapy Gives Man a Second Chance to Live By , Communications OfficercbalesAugust 01, 2023August 01, 2023 12:00 PMTwenty-five-year-old John thinks he may have lived with HIV for over three years before taking a blood test in December 2021. After several failed over-the-counter malaria treatments, John ’s older brother Ojok took him to Munuki Primary Health Center in Juba, where he tested HIV positive.Although health workers immediately enrolled John on antiretroviral therapy (ART), he refused medication and lived in denial for another year.John ’s health deteriorated and in December 2022, Ojok returned him to Munuki Primary Health Center. After health workers at the center performed another positive HIV test, and provided a radiological tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis, he began receiving HIV and TB treatment.Munuki is one of 14 health centers supported by theAdvancing HIV/AIDS Epidemic Control Activity (AHEC). AHEC is a four-year USAID-funded contract led by IntraHealth International providing comprehensive HIV services —including Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), an HIV prevention method—and free ART to 11,345 people living with HIV in South Sudan. By partnering with local health facilities and organizations, the South Sudanese government, and local communities, AHEC helps train health workers to provide HIV se rvices and adapts evidence-based HIV prevention, care, and treatment interventions for people living with HIV.This time, AHEC a...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Source Type: news