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Did Prudence Mabele quit her ARVs?

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Prudence Mabele might have stopped taking her ARVs. (iStock)
Prudence Mabele might have stopped taking her ARVs. (iStock)

Iconic Aids activist Prudence Mabele, who died two weeks ago, might have either stopped taking her antiretroviral treatment or had become immune to it.

But all we know for certain is that at the time of her death, Mabele’s CD4 count was a miniscule 14. This is according to Sibongile Tshabalala, deputy general secretary of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC).

'Treatment holidays' are dangerous

A CD4 count is a measure of how strong a person’s immune system is. Healthy people have a CD4 count of at least 500, and doctors use this measure as well as viral load tests to see whether a person is responding to ARV treatment.

Meanwhile, TAC founder Zackie Achmat revealed over the weekend that Mabele “regularly joked that she interrupted her antiretroviral treatment”.

“Treatment holidays are dangerous and most probably were the cause of her premature death,” said Achmat.

Mabele’s partner for the past year, Lucinda van den Heever, said Mabele had “been to hospital more than once” recently.

Difficult to remain on treatment

“She had pneumonia. She was infected with TB… she was battling with her body,” said Van den Heever. “But she was fighting to live, she wanted to live.

“There was fear in her eyes, deep vulnerability. She pushed me away because she was terrified for me to see her like that. She found it difficult to let her armour down. She tried so hard and fought with everything she had.”

Since Mabele’s death, many people on long-term ARV treatment have spoken about how difficult it is to remain on treatment – particularly “second-line” ARVs. These second line drugs are for people who have developed resistance to first-line ARVs, and have numerous side effects, including diabetes.

“[Mabele’s] death was the failure of a health system,” said Tshabalala, lambasting the failure of governments to include treatment literacy and support for patients in their HIV plans. – Health-e News.

Read more:

Fear over ARV resistance

Diet not an ARV substitute

Single-pill ARV launched

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