Monitoring the side effects of Antiretroviral drugs

Meet Dr. Berna Naggirinya the head of the medical team in TASO Masaka. Dr. Naggirinya is another recipient of the Uganda National Drug Authority Certificate of Recognition for her contribution towards pharmacovigilance amongst the clients at her Center of Excellence.

She could not hold back her excitement when she was invited to attend the National Pharmacovigilance stakeholders meeting where her efforts were recognised. She is also very excited about the Med Safety App because before it was put in place, she had to compile reports from her team into one report and then forward it through the district Regional Pharmacist who then had to send it to the coordinating team. With this App she is sure that reporting will be faster and more accurate. She is also sure that she will have more time to build the capacity of her team to monitor more clients and report any unusual cases found.

One of the challenges she has found is that Masaka has a high key or priority population that is transient.  That is to say they are in one place only briefly. Sometimes she begins documenting a case, however follow up becomes a challenge when the client does come in for the next appointment and yet is also unreachable due to several reasons. Therefore it is not easy to determine whether they are still suffering from the side effects or whether they have cleared. She is very particular though about the quality of reports they make. The team has also been able to identify the few cases of self-medication as well as those clients who are not adhering well to their drugs. This is in addition to empowering clients to monitor their own health and feel confident enough to report anything unusual.

Dr. Naggirinya promises to keep reporting and looking out for the clients to ensure that they are living healthy lives. She is also working with the non-medical team to help find out any cases of clients who have not shared with the medical or counseling teams and yet they are suffering quietly.

We applaud yet another women working towards ending AIDS as an epidemic by 2030 by ensuring that clients are adhering to their treatment and that they are not suffering from any discomfort.