ART CLINIC

Prevention Services

• Prevention of babies from contracting HIV especially through the vertical method (mother to child transmission) is done as part of the HIV prevention services. This is done at the Mother-Baby care point (located in Antenatal clinic).

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• The hospital offers septrine prophylaxis to the newly diagnosed clients. ARVs for both children and adults are available. The hospital has first line and second line regimens for the clients.  The supplies including testing kits and medications are received from Joint Medical Store on a bimonthly basis. The clinic works closely with the TB clinic to cater for the clients’ needs. INH (Isoniazid) is supplied to the eligible clients. The Gene Xpert machine is functional for proper TB diagnosis. Buluba has 1320 active clients on ART.

The HIV Chronic care clinic was started in 2004. In 2005, it was one of the first health centres in Mayuge District to receive Anti-retroviral drugs.  Ever since, the enrollment has not stopped with declines in the year 2012-13 when more level 3 Health Centre in the district were upgraded to supply ARVs. Clients from those nearby Health facilities were transferred due to proximity to care.
In general, the ART clinic screens the clients for HIV. Those that are eligible are counseled and consent/decline for HIV testing. The clients that are HIV positive are further counseled on positive living and Anti-retroviral therapy immediately. Then a baseline CD4 count is done. Other investigations are done including LFTs and RFTs, CBC, BP, RBS before the client is initiated on ART. Note that in Uganda we are implementing Test and Treat strategy therefore all HIV Positive clients are initiated on ART.
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On a daily basis we encounter an average of 3 new clients. These may have come in by themselves or deemed necessary by the health worker/clinician when they have presented with other complaints but the clinician find HTC as a leading test to the proper diagnosis. Our staffs comprise of a Medical Officer, a Medical Clinical officer, Nursing officers, counselors, a Nurse, Expert clients and records personnel. Buluba has also a visiting Pediatrician who manages the pediatric clinic every Tuesday.

Among other services, the team does the counseling. The Hospital offers CD4 count, LFTs and RFTs to the clients once the reagents are available in the laboratory. The laboratory still offers Complete Blood Count. Viral Load test and PCR are also done through the HUB system to the Central Public Health Laboratory. Results of which are available within two weeks on the website of CPHL and we can print them out at our facility.
Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) is yet another service offered in the ART clinic. This is the service offered to those HIV Negative clients who have come into direct contact with the blood/fluids of the infected client either through needle pricks, victims of rape/defilement whose offender’s status is either known as HIV positive or unknown. It is offered to clients that are at risk of contracting HIV due to their exposure to such an environment.