Abstract:

Background: HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It is the virus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS if not treated. No effective cure currently exists, but with proper medical care, HIV can be controlled. The medicine used to treat HIV is called antiretroviral therapy or ART. Adherence is the single most modifiable factor that predicts treatment outcome among patients on ART. According to recent studies, antiretroviral therapy requires high- level (>95%) adherence in order to be effective. The main of the study was to determine the proportion of clients with non- adherence to ART and the factors associated with non-adherence to ART among HIV infected patients suspected of treatment failure at BMC CTC clinic thereby promoting successful outcomes in patients on ART.

Methodology: a quantitative cross- sectional study was conducted among HIV infected patients suspected of treatment failure attending CTC at BMC preferable those attending EAC. Pretested structured questionnaires was used in data collection. The obtained results were analyzed using SPSS statistics 20 program and the obtained data was summarized categorically.

Results: a total of 81 participants were enrolled in the study 67.7% were non adherent this was due forgetting 48.1% drugs side effects 7.6%, travel problems 13%, drug stock run out 11.1%, alcohol use 7.4% and others.

Conclusion: the key factors associated with non-adherence to ART are simply forgetting, young group, distance to facility travel problems, alcohol use, other chronic illness. I recommend to train and support community counsellors who operate from their home. Employ adequate number of well trained staff, increase access to ART clinics as well as well as improving facility infrastructures.