Why is 'adherence' important during my HIV treatment?

Why is 'adherence' important during my HIV treatment?

Charles Farthing (Chief of Medicine, AIDS Healthcare Foundation) gives expert video advice on: How can 'accepting' the fact that I have HIV help me with my medical treatment?; Can I stop my treatment if my HIV medication makes me ill? and more...

Adherence, or taking your pills correctly and on time, is critical for the treatment of HIV. It is the most important issue because this virus is only kept suppressed if the drugs are actually in the blood at all times. The only way to keep the drug in the blood at all times is to take it very regularly at an interval that keeps the level up before it drops down to zero, or even close. That is the biggest and most difficult issue for some HIV patients, to adhere to taking their medicines regularly. Those that can do it do extremely well, and that's about half to 2/3 of patients. Those that, for whatever reason, can't regiment their life to taking a pill once a day if necessary, or twice a day if necessary, depending on the regimen, tend to do poorly