Prevalence of Alcohol Use and it's Effect on People Living with HIV Care Programs:

Abstract

The World Health Organization estimates that there are about 2 billion people world wide who consume alcoholic beverages and 76.3 million with diagnosable alcoholic disorder (WHO,2001). Alcohol causes 1.9 million death worldwide which is 58.3 million that is 4% of total disability adjusted life year (DALLYS),(WHO,2001) Alcohol can change someones judgment, emotions, perception, movement reactions, vision and hearing. However if alcohol is consumed in small amounts it can support an individual, feel relaxed and less anxious,(National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse(N.I.A.A),2010) Results: The study had more women attending clinic than men. The patients sex and those with formation on adverse effects of alcohol consumption. Adherence seems to decrease with alcohol severity patients proffered drinking malwa than any other alcohol drinkers. More than a half of the patients who drank alcohol were classified as high drinkers and alcohol seem to have an effect on ART adherence. Alcohol was found to have influence on sexual behavior. The ministry of health in Uganda has no clear policy and guidelines for alcohol use,yet drinking of alcohol may be a major threat to health.(Nachega et al,2014;Samet et al.2007),especially to people living with HIV and this could be influencing alcohol prevalence in this group (Greenfield et al,2006 Karibu et al,2010;Reid et al.2003). The gender disparity is because women may be having better health seeking behavior than men in terms of HIV in Touch Namuwongo. Conclusion and recommendations: The study results indicates that alcohol use prevalence among PLH was higher at 50% than that of general population. There was evidence that men consume more alcohol than women in this population and that lack of information on the side effects of alcohol was associated with alcohol consumption. There was an association between sharing and drug regimen change with alcohol use among PLH. The study results associated alcohol severity among patients whose ARV drug regimen had been changed. Pregnancy among women PLH was associated with alcohol use.