What it takes for health systems to provide lifelong antiretrovirals

Soon after her husband’s death in 1991, Bahati Shellinah tested positive for HIV, but antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) were not yet available. In 2004 she fell ill, but, luckily, this time ARVs were available. Bahati visited the Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC) outside of Kampala, Uganda, and she began taking ARVs for the first time

Thankfully for Bahati, a local service provider was able to start her on treatment, but that is not the case for many people living with HIV, who often find themselves facing long waiting times, overwhelmed staff, medicine stock outs, stigma, and discrimination. No organization is immune to these challenges, and although JCRC was prepared when Bahati returned, they, too, grappled with organizational challenges as they scaled up services between 2003 and 2010. The gaps in management systems put JCRC's eligibility for donor funding at risk, which would mean patients like Bahati would lose access to their essential medicines.