More than half of people with HIV/AIDS have skipped or quit taking their medication, with some citing the drugs’ severe side effects as a reason, a survey by an HIV/AIDS civic service group showed.
The Taiwan Lourdes Association conducted a survey of 204 people with HIV/AIDS this year, of whom 83.2 percent take at least two types of medicine for treatment every day and 45.5 percent take them more than twice a day.
However, 52.6 percent of respondents said they have missed doses or stopped taking their medication for reasons including forgetting to do so because of work; losing track of time; severe side effects; eating at irregular times; and being afraid of being seen taking medication.
Yang Chia-jui (楊家瑞), an attending physician at Far Eastern Memorial Hospital’s Department of Infectious Diseases, said that about 10 to 20 percent of people with HIV/AIDS might suffer side effects — such as dizziness, headaches, diarrhea, fatigue and vomiting — from taking some commonly prescribed drugs.
The survey showed that 31.6 percent of respondents said the drugs’ side effects have affected their job performance, and 15.3 percent said they have been forced to leave or change jobs as a result.
Association secretary-general Paul Hsu (徐森杰) said that although not every person taking medication suffers from side effects, it has affected the daily lives of many who take them.
Some people with HIV/AIDS also worry that they will be discriminated against or stigmatized if people see them taking their medication, Hsu said.
Yang said that drugs for treating HIV/AIDS have been effective in controlling the virus, but if patients do not take them regularly or stop taking them altogether, their immune systems might become weaker and they might develop other complications.
Patients should discuss with their doctors if side effects from prescription drugs are intolerable, he said, adding that new first-line drugs approved since June cause fewer side effects.
Hsu suggested that patients use smartphone apps or specialized pill cases, or ask friends or relatives to help remind them to take their medication on time.
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
RSS