Thursday 28 August 2008

I ... am trublit now with gret seiknes

Yesterday had a call from a young executive living with HIV. His CD4 count is around 150, but he's not yet started antiretroviral therapy (ART). But he was calling to ask about the side effects he was still experiencing after a month's TB treatment. He told me that a test had shown that he had active TB, but no he was no longer infectious. So, he asked, could he stop the TB treatment? It turned out that he did not know that he must stay on TB treatment for six months.

Why had he not started ART? Because his HIV doctor said he should wait until he had completed two months of TB treatment. Never mind that the guidelines say that people like him should start ART 2-3 weeks after starting TB treatment. Never mind that 'we' all know that TB is the main reason why PLHIV in Indonesia die.

From what he said, it seemed that his TB doctor knows little about HIV. I suggested that the young man should ask his HIV doctor to talk the TB doctor. He just rang me to say he had just raised this during a visit to his HIV doctor. The doctor declined, saying he could not interfere between a doctor and his patient!

Sometimes I'm at a loss!

Babé

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