Poor tracking means patients lose out

The report by the Reproductive Health & HIV Research Unit (RHRU) of the University of the Witwatersrand, based on a 2006 review of patient files at the Tshepong Wellness Clinic, about 120km southwest of Johannesburg, shows that a standard percentage - about 14 percent - stop taking treatment, but more than 20 percent of patients never get to the treatment stage.

An initial CD4 count (measuring the strength of the immune system) for each patient - those who began treatment as well as those who did not - was an average of 95. This led researchers to question why patients with a CD4 count of below 200, who clearly qualified for free treatment, did not start receiving it.

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