“I am owing people money now because I have to borrow money to go to the clinic every time to fetch my ARVs”
We have been calling for a 6 month supply for many years, yet the health department keeps asking us if people living with HIV really want it. As people living with HIV, we can tell you, we really want it! Hundreds of members from TAC will be marching on World AIDS Day to tell the department to hear us now! In the run up to the march we will be hearing from a number of people living with HIV as to how a 6 month supply can help them.
First up we will hear from Themba* in Limpopo. Themba has been on treatment for 3 years, but going to the clinic every three months is a challenge. He is unemployed and forced to borrow money from friends to pay the taxi fare to get there. Here he tells us how a 6 month supply of ARVs would mean fewer trips to the clinic, and help him cut the high costs that mean he has to forgo feeding his family to get his treatment.
Most days Themba battles to put food on the table. He says that being unemployed and having a small child and a wife to look after has become a massive challenge in his life.
It’s also impacting how he manages his ARV treatment. He says: “I am not getting the R350 grant and I can’t find a job. But taking the medication for my HIV means I have to have something in my stomach before I take the pills.”
“I am owing people money now because I have to borrow money to go to the clinic every time to fetch my ARVs,” he says.
Themba uses the Mavambe Clinic, but it’s a long distance from his home.
“My problem is financial. From my place to Mavambe Clinic is too far, so I have to catch three taxis there and three taxis back and I can’t afford it,” he says.
Themba was diagnosed at the clinic three years ago and initiated on treatment there. He says that he has worked hard at sticking to his treatment regime, and it’s paid off as he is now getting a 3 month supply. But he says a 6 month supply of ARVs would help him to significantly cut costs. If he can’t get a 6 month supply, he would at least like to collect his medicines every three months at an external pick-up point closer to home so he would not have to travel such long distances.
He does have a complaint that the clinic nurses need to treat patients better. He says that nurses disrespect patients and turn clinic visits into tense experiences. He adds: “When you go there the nurses will call their colleagues over to you and they talk about you. There is no privacy and there is no confidentiality. Even when I complained about this before they didn’t do anything about it.”
Themba also must rely on the nurses to connect him with a social worker who help to get him food parcels. These food parcels he says are critical to help him and his family get by.
“But sometimes you get that parcel and sometimes there’s nothing. It’s not easy because sometimes I don’t know if my family will even eat that night,” he says.
* Name changed to protect identity
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