In the absence of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, people living with HIV in Uganda are seeking other ways to delay the onset of AIDS or to treat opportunistic infections, a trend that is worrying health campaigners.
Although many trials of alternative HIV therapies exist, very few meet the scientific standards necessary to support the claims of beneficial effects in the therapies studied.
Denis Kabugho, a resident of Kisuba village in Bundibugyo district, Western Uganda says he resorted to herbs because he could not easily access ARVs. He says the health facilities are far, the services are poor, the lines are long and at times ARVs are not there.
“I have to move a distance of about 40 kilometers to the health center to seek medical services. What hurts me most is that you get there, the nurses are not available, the lines are too long and at the end of it of all you go back home, tired, and without being treated,” 42-year-old Kabugho says.
Kabugho, who has lived with HIV for the past nine years, says traditional healers usually provide “immediate treatment”, whereas clinics may have lengthy waiting lists and tests to determine people who are eligible to start on antiretroviral drugs (ARVS).
However, Grace Businge, who sells herbs in Fort Portal town, says that, although some herbs can be used to boost an HIV positive person’s immunity, it is incorrect for people to think they can cure the virus.
Businge says most of her HIV positive clients come with complaints of diarrhoea, headaches, loss of appetite and consistent malaria. She discloses that she uses Aloe Vera to treat these symptoms, but was quick to add that the herbs do not cure HIV itself.
“Most people improve after taking a dose of ten liters of Aloe Vera but people should not abandon their treatment because of herbs,” she said.
Kabarole district health officer, Dr Richard Mugahi, said many people living with HIV have been deceived to stop taking their medicines, with disastrous consequences.
Dr Mugahi said that many who quit ARVs, or do not take them as prescribed to them by medical workers, get drugs resistance. He added that, by the time they are put back on drugs, they cannot cope and this forces health workers to put the patient on another treatment line of ARVs.
“Adherence is very important in the treatment and management of HIV. Skipping or stopping the drugs put HIV patients in danger of getting more infections and drug resistance,” Dr Mugahi said.
“Herbs are likely to be ineffective or can even be harmful. In the absence of good scientific trials, it is impossible to be certain if it works or not. People should avoid it as much as they can,” he adds.
Yahaya Maate, one of the people living with HIV, says that one of the reasons why people opt for traditional medicine is because of stigma associated with the virus.
Maate, a resident of Kateebwa in Kabarole district, says he has lived with the HIV for 15 years because he disclosed his status and was helped. Maate does not believe that traditional herbs treat opportunistic diseases associated with the virus. He also disagrees with people taking both the ARVs and herbs.
Maate formed Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (APHLA) with an aim of sensitizing people on the importance of adherence and protection. The association has over 200 members living with HIV.
He discloses that four of his members died after they abandoned the treatment and resorted to herbs after they were deceived by a witch doctor from the Democratic Republic of Congo who convinced them he had a cure for the virus.
“ARVs do not go well with traditional medicine and if you combine them together it may result into severe side effects and even death,” he said.
Dr Emmanuel Luyirika, the county director of Mild May, described the use of traditional herbs to treat HIV as “a disaster which will lead to multiplication of the virus”. He emphasized that HIV has no cure and no one should stop taking ARVs for traditional medicine, as ARVs have been proven to reduce the virus.
“The consequences of not taking ARVs are fatal and it’s a disaster because when one stops taking it, the virus in the body multiplies, exposing one to death,” he said.
The Country Director of International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Uganda, Leonard Okello, described herbalists and witch doctors who tell people living with HIV that they cure the virus as murderers and called upon the government and the Ministry of Health to apprehend them before they kill many more people.
“This is murder. How can these herbalists and traditional doctors confuse people who are coping well on ARVs, which have been proven to reduce the multiplication of the virus, to stop [taking] it? We need to take tough action against them before we lose many lives to these unprofessional and selfish individuals,” Okello said.
Working closely on this issue is THETA, a Ugandan NGO dedicated to improving the health of Ugandans by promoting collaboration between traditional and biomedical health systems. It works closely with the Ministry of Health, Uganda Aids Commission, Regional Aids Training Network, universities and several civil society organizations to build and support long term, in-depth relationships between traditional and formal health care systems.
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