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HIV/AIDS patients connected by Internet
Jeanne Van Der Merwe Cape Argus, 29 August, 2002. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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Flu medication can be confusing enough when you're having to take three different kinds at separate times of day.
But the confusion can be a lot worse when you're on anti-retrovirals and have to take anything up to 20 pills a day.
Now research teams at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the Cape Technikon have devised a way of helping HIV/AIDS patients keep track of their condition, their medication and its side-effects.
They have also found that people too sick to go to a doctor or clinic are often unable to tell if they feel ill as a result of the side-effects of the drugs, are allergic to the drugs, or are actually sick because of the disease.
Help could be at hand through specially programmed cellphones, satellite phones and the internet.
Dubbed Cell-life, the project partners have just launched a pilot programme in Gugulethu that uses 10 specially-trained peer counsellors who are on antiretrovirals themselves and undergoing training.
The counsellors visit between 100 and 150 patients several times a week to check on their condition and whether they are taking their medication.
Jevon Davies, post-doctoral researcher at the Cape Technikon, said the technology enabled a single doctor to treat hundreds of HIV/AIDS patients via the internet.
"Say you're living in a rural area, you've got clinical Aids and you're too sick to go to the mobile hospital to collect your medicine," he said.
"The counsellor brings you your medication and enters your ID number on a drop-down menu on a cellphone or satellite phone.
He notes that you have a nevirapine rash, which could indicate drug toxicity.
"He then reports back on your condition instantly via SMS by logging on to an internet database that can be accessed by a doctor anywhere in the world.
The doctor then advises the counsellor via SMS and the counsellor tells you directly what to do."
If they encounter emergencies or the patient's condition deteriorates, counsellors can be contacted via SMS and beeper through the database.
Davies said that by closely keeping track of which patients were taking which drugs, they would also be able to order drugs in time so patients wouldn't be stranded without the right medication for weeks on end.
The new technology will also help the research team to explore who is getting HIV/AIDS and how the medication works in particular areas - which has taken a back seat due to the prominence given to drug provision costs and toxicity levels.
The project will run for about five years, in conjunction with the UCT Lung Institute, the Cape Technikon Centre for Instrumentation Research and the UCT faculty of engineering. |
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