A Shortage of ARVs and a Surplus of Stigma in Côte d’Ivoire

A health worker explains the sexual transmission of infections at the family planning clinic in Yopougon. ARV shortages and long waits discourage women from starting or staying on treatment. Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPSBy Fulgence ZambléABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire, Nov 8 2013 (IPS) At the Cocody-Anono community health centre, south-east of the Ivorian economic capital of Abidjan, Bertine Bahi* regularly attends awareness sessions on Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) for women living with HIV. Bahi tested positive in her third month of pregnancy. In October, the 32-year-old was five months pregnant and still had not revealed her HIV status to her husband. “Despite the midwife’s advice, it is difficult to tell my husband.  If I do, I will be thrown out of my home,” Bahi says. “For now, when I can get hold of antiretrovirals (ARVs), I take them in secret.” Suzanne Asseman*, a 37-year-old housewife from Agboville in southern Côte d’Ivoire, learned she was HIV-positive in June 2012. She has to travel to Abidjan, 80 kms away, for the ARVs that keep her healthy. This is not easy because Asseman is seven months pregnant. When she finally received her ARV pills for October, she had missed five weeks of treatment.  ARVs must be taken regularly every day or their efficiency is compromised. Asseman has always waited one or two weeks to get her medication, but this time the wait was longer. Now she has doubts about her treatment. Fast Facts About Côte D’ivo...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Africa Countdown to ZERO Development & Aid Featured Gender Headlines Health Poverty & MDGs Projects Regional Categories TerraViva United Nations Women's Health Côte d'Ivoire Ivorian Network of People Living with HIV Joint Unit Source Type: news