E-drug: Unintended ARV treatment interruptions
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Dear E-druggers,
The fact that HAART must be strictly adhered to hardly needs
stating here. However, the reality is that some patients do
experience unintended treatment interruptions due to a number of
reasons including supply problems - and this is very worrying.
In the programme where I work, we are doing our utmost to
improve the situation, but in the meanwhile I would like to provide
sound advice to prescribers and patients who face this situation. So
far, I have advised as per "Scaling Up Antiretroviral Therapy in
Resource-Limited Settings: Guidelines to a Public Health
Approach" (WHO, June 2002) which, in the chapter on Drug
Resistance, recommends, "if the supply of one component of a
multidrug regimen is interrupted, the entire regimen should be
temporarily stopped until all the drugs can be administered
simultaneously". However, some clinicians still believe it is better to
give something rather than nothing for that short period. I would be
very grateful if any readers could guide me towards additional
convincing evidence which supports the aforementioned WHO
recommendation.
Fionnuala Mc Cullagh
VSO Pharmacist
NWPSFH
Bamenda, Cameroon
e-mail: fionnualamccullagh@hotmail.com
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