Haydom hospital launches HIV/AIDS treatment programme

by Simba Nyamaume in Mbulu

The Haydom Lutheran Hospital (HLH) in Mbulu district, Manyara region has launched an anti-viral drug programme aimed at prolonging the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) which has no vaccine or cure.

This is ahead of a nation-wide programme expected to start early next year that will give a new lease of life to more than 2 million Tanzanians living with HIV/AIDS.

The HLH Medical Director, Doctor Ole Olsen has said in an interview that the HLH initiative took off last month after two of the hospital’s doctors were trained in Norway to manage the programme being implemented with assistance from the Norwegian International Development Agency (NORAD).

According to Dr. Olsen, three patients were already undergoing treatment following the procurement of some anti-retroviral drugs in an arrangement under which NORAD will meet 95 per cent of the cost while the HLH will meet the remaining five per cent.

He however cautioned that the treatment of AIDS patients could be challenging and has to be done in a very careful way otherwise it may cause problems including resistance to certain drugs. The drugs may also cause some side effects and hence require close and effective monitoring.

"If the administering of anti-viral drugs to patients is done early, it is likely to give good results and when side effects are encountered, it is advised to change drugs or use a different combination of drugs", he said.

Earlier this year, the hospital launched an HIV/AIDS control project aimed at reducing the HIV transmission through voluntary testing and counselling of patients to check the spread of the killer disease.

Doctor Olsen said two health teams are going around in villages to sensitize the people on the importance of HIV/AIDS testing. About 10,000 people have so far been screened under voluntary HIV/AIDS testing in the hospital’s catchment area. The hospital caters for some 500,000 people in Mbulu and Hanang districts in Manyara region and Iramba district in Singida region.

The Haydom Lutheran Hospital has 400 beds and treats 70,000 out patients annually.

A nation-wide programme to treat HIV/AIDs expected to start next year follows the recent agreement between former US president Bill Clinton and leading pharmaceutical companies to reduce the prices of life prolonging dugs by half.

Last modified: November 14, 2003.
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