Uganda: Drug side-effects place treatment scale up at risk, says Ugandan HIV doctor

One of Africa’s leading HIV doctors says that efforts to scale up antiretroviral treatment in sub-Saharan Africa risk being undermined by inadequate preparation throughout the health care system for drug side-effects. Dr Elly Katabira of Makarere University, Uganda, told the Sixth International Workshop on Lipodystrophy and Adverse Drug Reactions in HIV in Washington DC, USA, that doctors risk undermining patient confidence in antiretroviral drugs if they are not prepared properly for drug side-effects in the first months of treatment. Global pressure to scale up treatment, said Dr Katabira, was in danger of ignoring the higher risk of drug side-effects in patients eligible for treatment.