article · HIV/AIDS - Research and Palliative Care
Nigeria faces a substantial public health crisis from HIV and AIDS, prompting major initiatives to expand antiretroviral therapy programmes. An analysis of thirteen peer-reviewed studies across Nigerian geopolitical zones evaluated how adherence to treatment is measured and why patients fail to take their medication. Findings reveal mixed adherence rates across the country, with patient self-recall serving as the primary measurement method. Furthermore, very few studies focused on paediatric and adolescent populations. The primary drivers of non-adherence include the financial cost of therapy, even under heavy subsidies, alongside drug side effects, interruptions in medication availability, and social stigma. The findings offer practical guidance and policy recommendations to strengthen the management and delivery of antiretroviral therapy initiatives nationwide.
Expanded access to antiretroviral treatment is critical to controlling the HIV crisis in Nigeria. However, therapy can only succeed if patients take medications continuously. Identifying the practical barriers to adherence, such as costs and drug shortages, allows public health administrators and programme funders to design targeted interventions that keep patients engaged in care and reduce treatment failure.
The abstract does not evaluate a commercial product, but its findings can inform service delivery models, supply-chain management tools, and patient adherence platforms for public health programmes and healthcare providers. Interventions addressing drug stock-outs or private-sector subsidy structures could lower non-adherence. Because the work is a policy and literature review, direct commercial applications are distant, existing primarily as operational guidance for public health managers and non-governmental organisations.
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Both Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and AIDS remain major public health crises in Nigeria, a country which harbors more people living with HIV/AIDS than any country in the world, with the exception of South Africa and India. In response to the HIV pandemic, global and international health initiatives have targeted several countries, including Nigeria, for the expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs for the increasing number of affected patients. The success of these expanded ART initiatives depends on the treated individual's continual adherence to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. Thirteen peer-reviewed studies concerning adherence to ART in Nigeria were reviewed with very few pediatric and adolescent studies being found. Methodologies of adherence measurement were analyzed and reasons for nonadherence were identified in the geopolitical zones in the federal republic of Nigeria. The results of the literature review indicate that adherence to ART is mixed (both high and low adherence) with patient self-recall identified as the common method of assessment. The most common reasons identified for patient nonadherence include the cost of therapy (even when the drugs are heavily subsidized), medication side effects, nonavailability of ARV drugs, and the stigma of taking the drugs. This manuscript highlights the policy and practice implications from these studies and provides recommendations for future ART program management.
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DOI: 10.2147/hiv.s9280
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