Adherence to Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART): A Sel-reported Case Study from a Rural Area in Cameroon

The paper reports on an investigation of factors militating against adherence to highly active anti-retroviral therapy in a rural area in Cameroon: A pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire was administered to 108 HIV positive patients on treatment with antiretrovirals. Adherence was evaluated on the following drug combinations Nevirapine /Lamivudine/ Stavudine (Triomune); Efavirenz/Lamivudine/ Zidovudine and Indinavir/ Lamivudine /Stavudine. The correlation of factors like income, educational level, age, gender, medication type and adherence was evaluated. The effect of ascertained factors such as drug type, finance, medication side effects, forgetting to take medication, difficulty in fitting drug schedule with daily activities, shame to get refills and level of conviction on efficacy of drug on adherence are discussed herein. (Key Words: HIV/AIDS, Treatment, Anti-retroviral, Adherence. Sahel Medical Journal Vol.7(4) 2004: 119-12