KIHEFO HIV Clinic

At first glance, you wouldn’t even notice the presence of the KIHEFO HIV/AIDs clinic when you walk down the street.  If you looked closely, you may see a sign in the window that offers different precautions to prevent the contraction of HIV.  Other than that, there is no sign that behind the doors to the clinic there is a bustling staff dedicated to bettering the lives of men, women, and children living with HIV.

 When Dr. Anguyo Geoffrey (known by the students as Dr. G) began training in general medicine in Uganda, he was immersed in cases involving HIV and AIDs which had spread over much of eastern Africa in the eighties.  He often talked about how the world that he worked in when he was training to become a doctor is something that younger physicians may never get the chance to experience.  A large portion of the hospital admissions cases during that time was for HIV patients and this no doubt scared many African people into getting tested.  He was surrounded by patient’s begging for testing and treatment because they saw what this virus was doing to their friends and loved ones.
 As time went on and anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs), the medication that reduces the viral load of HIV, began to take effect on patients, he began to see a decrease in the amount of people asking to be on medication.  He describes the initial HIV/AIDs scare as something that caused people to line up at the door to get the ARVs, but now that Africa has seen the long-term effects of ARVs and how effective they can be when taken religiously, the line for treatment is getting shorter and shorter.  Thankfully, they are still able to keep in close contact and follow up with all of their HIV patients.  The KIHEFO HIV clinic now serves the Kigezi region of Uganda by keeping record of all of the registered patients, continuing viral testing, and distributing the government-funded ARVs.

 As we sat in the open-air pavilion on our second morning in Uganda, all four of us students listened diligently as Dr. G gave us a lecture on his experience with the HIV outbreak and pathology.  We could not authentically experience the impact that HIV had in those first years, but we definitely understood the importance of continuing HIV testing and treatment now.  Despite the horrible danger that HIV poses, the suppression of viral load and, consequently, AIDs prevalence in HIV positive patients has made some people feel comfortable reverting back to their old habits (i.e. having unprotected sex, re-entering the commercial sex profession) that they had previously discontinued when this mystery virus seemed to tear down everyone in its path.   Because of this, the UN created a 90/90/90 proposition that will attempt three things:
1. test 90% of the population for HIV
2. treat at least 90% of HIV positive patients with ARVs
3. keep 90% of the HIV-positive patient’s viral load at zero.

 In order to reach these goals, it is important for HIV clinics throughout Africa to continue with their work and keep training lab technicians and phlebotomists to keep the clinics functioning.