Email 346: Anxious About ARV's

Hi Pozzie,

I wrote you a message through your blog but I'm not sure if you received it.  In any case, I'm emailing you directly as a backup (hope you don't mind).

I've been working abroad for nearly six years.  I was diagnosed HIV+ about three years ago and began taking ARV's soon after (efavirenz and tenofovir at first, then Atripla a year after and up to now).  I get tested every six months and my last test (last January) indicated that my viral load is zero and my CD4 count is 10,000.

As I am due to return home to the Philippines this July, I've been looking up on information on how to get ARV's there.  I'm grateful that your blog has a lot of useful information.  My concern is that apparently Philippine pharmacies do not dispense ARV's as these meds are only available through designated treatment centers, where PLWHIV first have to be tested.  What about PLWHIV who have undetectable viral loads and have good CD4 counts? Will ARV's still be dispensed to them? I worry about this because I want to keep on taking ARV's even with my good numbers but the treatment centers there might not dispense them to me.

I would really appreciate getting more information on this.

Thanks and more power!

Anxious Balikbayan


POZZIEPINOY'S RESPONSE

Hi Anxious Balikbayan.

Thank you for your email. Thank you for finding the blog. I really hope you can find all the answers here.

Let me address all your questions in the order that you asked them.

First, it is true that one can't get the ARV's from the local pharmacies here and only the HIV/AIDS Treatment hubs can dispense them with the prescription coming from the infectious disease doctors here. However, if you are a Filipino or a foreign national with an ACR or a permanent residency permit, then you can definitely avail of the HIV meds. All you have to do is:

1. Get an HIV Test here in the Philippines, even if you already have done the test outside the country. The reason for this is that the government and/or the Department of Heath wants to monitor the cases here in the country.

2. Finish all the lab tests required by the HIV/AIDS Treatment hubs. It is not necessary to get your lab tests done in the hub as long as you present the most recent lab tests done. Of course, it is up to the HIV doctors if they want you to repeat some of the tests as required in the hub.

Second, you don't have to worry about the ARV's here. You know that once you start taking the HIV meds, you are not allowed to stop taking them anymore until the cure comes. All the HIV doctors know that and even though you have undetectable VL and a high CD4 count, since you have been taking your ARV's, the doctors here will still continue your meds. If in case the hubs don't have the ARV's that you are taking right now, they will find a substitute for them. Of course, the doctors here will decide which meds you have take in replacement of your previous ones.

HIV treatment here in the Philippines is excellent. There are good doctors who know what they are doing so there is no cause for alarm.

I hope I was able to answer all your questions. Feel free to email me again if you have other concerns.


Stay healthy,
Pozziepinoy