Journal of Antivirals & Antiretrovirals
Open Access

Experiences of HIV Positive Patients on ARV Treatment at the Thulamela Municipality in the Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa

Ndou TV¹ , Risenga PR^{2 *} and Maputle MS³

¹Tshilidzini Hospital, South Africa

²University of South Africa, Gauteng Province, South Africa

³University of Venda, Limpopo Province, South Africa

*Corresponding Author:

Risenga PR
University of South Africa
Gauteng Province, South Africa
E-mail: [email protected]

Received Date: July 30, 2013; Accepted Date: September 23, 2013; Published Date: September 25, 2013

Citation: Ndou TV, Risenga PR, Maputle MS (2013) Experiences of HIV Positive Patients on ARV Treatment at the Thulamela Municipality in the Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa. J Antivir Antiretrovir 5:123-131. doi: 10.4172/jaa.1000075

Copyright: © 2013 Ndou TV, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract: Antiretroviral treatment (ARV) has improved the quality of life among people living with HIV. ARVs have been documented to decrease the morbidity and mortality of people in their introduction in the late 1980’s. The purpose of the study is to identify, explore and describe the experience of HIV positive patients on ARV treatment at the Thulamela Municipality in the Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Methods: A non-probability purposive sampling was used. The target population was those HIV positive patients on ARV treatment who were eighteen years and above. A qualitative research method was used to explore and describe the experiences of HIV positive patients on ARVs in detail. In-depth individual interviews were used through the help of interview guide for data collection.
Results: The open coding method was used for data analysis. Three themes emanated from the study as presented underneath; each theme consists of sub-themes:
• Dominant tales of perceived family support for HIV positive relative resulting in feelings of despair and those of being accepted;
• Stigma and discrimination related to HIV positive diagnosis;
• Disclosure of HIV positive status.
Conclusion: Community involvement and participation in HIV/AIDS matters is of utmost importance to reduce stigma and discrimination and bring unity in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Government should continually carry out workshops on families and relatives of those who are affected and make awareness campaigns to the community at large.