Treatment Literacy Saves Lives!
Since the early days, TAC has been committed to teaching the science and treatment of HIV, going door to door, person to person. It became one of our strongest tools in mobilising the masses to demand treatment. The programme was highly political and created a cadre of knowledgeable activists who could publicly challenge the misinformation spread during denialism.
Today, TAC’s flagship treatment literacy programme remains key to our model of highly informed grassroots activism. In addition to the traditional approach of training, door to door engagement, and social mobilisation campaigns, we have also long been in need of finding smarter ways to get people’s attention in a world of many distractions and one where people remain glued to their devices. This is what has been behind the 2021 development of the “Modern ART for South Africa” app and website.
TAC together with HIV i-Base created the free to download app as a way for people living with HIV to access the latest information about their treatment. The app includes useful tools to track and manage someone’s care and has tools to track adherence, CD4 counts, and viral load, as well as pill counters, reminders, and calendars to help someone stay on top of their personal treatment regime. By modernising we can ensure that there are as many ways as possible that people can access information, get questions answered, and take more control of HIV in their lives.
TAC also campaigns to ensure that all clinics explain the results of people’s viral load tests and help them understand the importance of taking treatment effectively. Too often people living with HIV are not given any information at our clinics. Treatment literacy and explaining people’s results remains fundamental to helping people stay on treatment.
Modern ART for South Africa — created by TAC and HIV i-base — is modernising this approach. Through a combination of tools, including a mobile app, Modern ART for South Africa ensures that people living with HIV have access to the latest information about ART and useful tools to help manage HIV treatment and health.
