Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Kitgum General Hospital has started distributing anti-retroviral drugs to HIV positive members under the community outreach program.
The Senior Hospital Administrator Bezzy Omoya says this is to enable people living with HIV to conveniently access their medication during the lockdown.
Under the program, antiretroviral drugs will on designated days be delivered to health facilities closer to the homes of HIV positive people.
According to Omoya, they were prompted to resort to outreach programmes following a reduction in the number of patients accessing ARVs after the ban on transport.
Suzan Ochola a resident of Labongo Akwang sub county says that due to the travel restrictions, many HIV positive people were defaulting treatment.
“The new arrangement of providing ART drug brings services closer to us is good because we’re not spending money on transport to facilities which are far away from our homes”, says Ochola.
Omoya says apart from delivering the drugs closer to the patients, the new arrangement will also cater to a mass anti-retroviral drug distribution that can sustain patients for three months.
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