E-DRUG: Delivering ARVs in clinics in South Africa
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Steina Sa, Lewinb Sb, Fairalla Lc. Hope is the pillar of the universe:
Health-care providers' experiences of delivering anti-retroviral therapy
in primary health-care clinics in the Free State province of South
Africa. Social Science & Medicine 2007; 64(4): 954-964.
doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.10.028
University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Knowledge Translation Unit,
George Street, Mowbray, Cape Town, Western Cape 7700, South Africa
bHealth Systems Research Unit, Medical Research Council of South Africa,
Cape Town, South Africa cDepartment of Public Health and Policy, London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
Available online 30 November 2006.
Abstract
South Africa is experiencing one of the largest HIV/AIDS epidemics in
the world. A national, publicly funded anti-retroviral therapy (ART)
programme has recently been launched. This paper describes the findings
from a qualitative study of the views of health-care professionals,
especially nurses, regarding the ART roll-out in the Free State province
of South Africa, where nurses are responsible for most of the care
delivered to AIDS patients. The study highlights the hope provided by
the new programme and the motivation it has engendered among nurses.
Apart from long waiting lists for ART, these professionals saw the main
programme challenge as the integration of a holistic model of
patient-centred care, inclusive of psycho-social support, into an
under-resourced primary health-care system. By comparison, neither the
increasing clinical responsibilities borne by nurses, nor the ability of
patients to adhere to ART, were seen as key problems. This study
suggests that the ART programme has mobilised health workers to assume
responsibility for providing high-quality care in an under-resourced
setting.
Kirsten Myhr
co-moderator
"Kirsten Myhr" <myhr@online.no>