Adherence to anti-retroviral therapy in children

Abstract

Adherence to antiretroviral therapy is key to success and survival among people living with HIV. Despite this, the low level of adherence is one of the main problems in the provision of medical care for HIV-infected people in many countries due to the high level of formation of resistant strains of the virus and, consequently, the ineffectiveness of ART. Data from a systematic review and meta analysis conducted in Ethiopia demonstrate different levels of adherence to ART in children with HIV infection in different cities of the same state [7]. Similar results were obtained in a study conducted in Nigeria [24]. Chinese scientists, after conducting a meta-analysis and a systematic review, also concluded that adherence rates are highly heterogeneous among different age groups of people [11]. The Indian scientists K. Mehta, M.L. Ekstrand, E. Heilen, GN Sanjiva and A. Sheth [14], conducting a study in the southern regions of India. The variety of research results obtained in different countries of the world prompted us to study the level of adherence to antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected children, which was the purpose of this work.