| dc.description.abstract | HIV/AIDS is a serious public health problem worldwide that challenges lives of many people which necessitates continuous access to medication. Though continuous access to ART is necessary for PLHIV, to live longer, this was not the case during COVID-19 lockdown in Uganda. PLHIV were blocked from accessing their medication due to the restrictions that were put in place including ban on public and private transport means and others. Despite this challenge, a limited number of studies have focused on how PLHIV managed to access treatment during COVID-19 lockdown.
This study therefore aimed at understanding treatment access among PLHIV during the lockdown in Uganda. The specific objectives of the study included; identifying the constraints PLHIV faced in accessing ART, examining the strategies used by PLHIV to access ART amidst the difficulties in access during COVID-19 lock down.
The study was entirely qualitative and was cross-sectional and explanatory to give an insight into experiences of PLHIV during the lockdown in Luwunga village Wakiso District. It adopted a non-probability purposive sampling technique to choose primary study participants and secondary study participants for the study. The determination of sample size was based on the principle of data saturation in which I chose participants until there was no new data obtained. A total number of fifteen (15) primary participants and five (5) secondary respondents were chosen for the study.
The study findings revealed that PLHIV in Luwunga were constrained in accessing medication during the lockdown due to transport difficulties, fear for stigma, lack of privacy and confidentiality and untimely delivery of HIV medicines. However, there were different strategies that were adopted to address the access challenge some of which were health system based like use of home deliveries and multi-month dispensing; community-based strategies like use of village peer providers and individual level strategies like clinic visitation. The study also revealed that there were motivations that enabled PLHIV to their medication amidst the challenges which included support from health workers, love for life or fear for death and willingness to avoid drug resistance. Basing on the above findings, efforts from the government, health workers and individuals living with HIV are necessary to ensure steady access to HIV medication in Luwunga during health emergencies like COVID-19. | en_US |
