New discrete medication dispensing system for HIV patients
Kaieteur News – A discrete medication admission system has been implemented by the National Center for Care and Treatment (NCTC) for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) patients. This was noted by the Director of the NCTC, Abiola Jacobs, who said the system was created to ensure that patients with HIV receive adequate treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic but in confidence if they wish.
The NCTC is one of the largest treatment facilities for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), the HIV-induced condition, in Guyana. Provides diagnosis and management of STIs and HIV / AIDS, voluntary counseling and the testing and management of some chronic diseases. The NCTC is obliged to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections and HIV in Guyana through accurate diagnosis.
It was reported that the center had experienced a decline in patient attendance in light of the pandemic resulting in having to find alternatives to adequately meet patients’ needs. This included the introduction of HIV medicine, according to Jacobs.
Jacobs told DPI last week that the center had to change the way clients were managed. With that change came the dispensing of medicines at home, visits to the patient’s workplace once consent was given and patients could also have picked up their medication at the NCTC without the face-to-face interaction practiced before the pandemic.
“We had to change the way we managed clients, we really had to set up differently, so what we tried to do was send home, but if clients were uncomfortable and they didn’t really want us to visit, we had arranged somewhere on a corner, a system that could be discrete, ”Jacobs shared.
He further revealed that some clients who did not want their home medication would go to the NCTC to pick it up, but it took some time to determine the order for treatment when those people showed up. As a result, visits had to be cut out unless the patient had a particular concern or required a physical examination.
It was also reported that the longer term clients who have been receiving treatment at the facility receive higher doses to last a long time. This was done to relieve people who needed to go out or get dropped medicines, which promoted greater social distance.
It was also important to note that HIV is one of the comorbidities listed for COVID-19 and individuals who carry the virus are more susceptible to the serious effects of COVID-19.
Special provisions were also created for people infected with HIV / AIDS who contracted COVID-19 and it was reported that all NCTC measures had been made in accordance with the COVID-19 guidelines in the past few months.