reasons why high religiosity can co-exist with and precipitate discontinuation of anti-retroviral therapy among different hiv clients in uganda an exploratory study高宗教信仰可以共存和沉淀的原因中止艾滋病毒抗逆转录病毒疗法在不同的客户在乌干达一个探索性研究.pdfVIP

Religions 2012, 3, 817–832; doi:10.3390/rel3030817 OPEN ACCESS religions ISSN 2077-1444 /journal/religions Article Reasons Why High Religiosity Can Co-exist with and Precipitate Discontinuation of Anti-retroviral Therapy among Different HIV Clients in Uganda: An Exploratory Study Christopher Tumwine 1,*, Stella Neema 2 and Glenn Wagner 3 1 Infectious Diseases Institute, Makerere University, P.O. Box 22184, Kampala, Uganda 2 Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda; E-Mail: sheisim@ 3 RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90407, USA; E-Mail: gwagner@ * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: xtofa2001@. Received: 21 May 2012; in revised form: 11 August 2012 / Accepted: 16 August 2012 / Published: 3 September 2012 Abstract: In-depth interviews were conducted with 39 very religious people living with HIV (16 had ever and 23 had never discontinued antiretroviral therapy—ART) to assess the role of religion in these treatment decisions and in coping with HIV. Participants who had ever discontinued ART gave reasons such as: teachings and prophecies from religious leaders, and supporting Biblical scriptures all of which led them to feel that God and their faith, not ART, would help them; and testimonies by their ―already healed‖ peers who had stopped ART. Participants who had never discontinued ART gave reasons such as continuous adherence counseling from multiple sources, improvement in physical health as a result