Many HIV Canadians not following drug plan: study
CTV Updated Wed. Aug. 9 2006 11:26 PM ET
Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy in Sub-Saharan Africa and North America
Mills, EJ, Nachega, JB et al. JAMA. 2006 Aug 9;296(6):679-90.
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Mills et al analyzed thirty-one studies on medication compliance from North America (28 full-text articles and 3 abstracts) and 27 studies (9 full-text articles and 18 abstracts) from sub-Saharan Africa and found that just 55 per cent of North Americans HIV patients substantially followed their anti-retroviral medication regimens, compared with 77 per cent of their counterparts in sub-Saharan Africa.
Commentary
As Mills points out, the findings dispense with the idea that impoverished and undereducated Africans will inevitably prove unable to adhere to treatment. Compliance just isn’t that simple.