Because of this stigma you will not see a sign with HIV treatment center anywhere in Isala. There are also no separate HIV consultation hours. Paul: ‘We see patients during our regular consultation hours. We often hear how difficult they find it to tell others that they have HIV. This certainly applies to patients from other cultures. There is still a lot of knowledge and understanding missing.’
No longer deadly
Speaking of knowledge, what is HIV again? ‘HIV is a virus that attacks your immune system,’ explains Paul. ‘That makes you more susceptible to special infections. The disease emerged in the 1980s and in 1996 there was already a treatment consisting of three drugs. Three because HIV is a capricious virus. Thanks to this treatment, HIV is no longer fatal, but a chronic condition in which life expectancy is almost equal to someone who does not have the HIV virus. When, thanks to the medication, the virus can no longer be detected in the blood, someone is no longer contagious.’ In addition, the spread in the Netherlands has also fallen considerably, thanks to the availability of PrEP, a drug that ensures that you do not become infected with HIV.
Complicated
In the beginning, the medication against HIV was quite complicated. Paul: ‘Different pills that you had to take at different times of the day. With one pill you had to drink a lot of water, with the other you had to eat something. Now one pill a day is enough. At the moment it is even being investigated whether an injection twice a year will suffice.’
Teamwork
The HIV treatment center in Isala has grown steadily over the past twenty years. Patients with a Dutch background, but also many refugees. Paul: ‘We see about twenty new patients every year. In addition, people who have HIV live. As a result, we are seeing more and more patients. I started on my own in 2002, now we have a team of three internists, two nurse specialists and a nurse consultant.’
Digital contact
Anyone who is a patient at the HIV treatment center comes to the outpatient clinic twice a year for blood tests and a check-up. Paul: ‘What we actually want to achieve is that the contact will ultimately be completely digital. We use online questionnaires to monitor how someone is doing. In the future you should also be able to measure how much virus it contains in a dried drop of blood. Patients no longer have to travel to Isala for a check-up appointment. That saves time and is more sustainable. If something goes wrong, then we have more time for those patients.’
More than medication
Paul is proud of “his” treatment center. ‘We have a lot of knowledge, we have a low threshold and we don’t have a waiting list. When a GP calls with a referral, someone can come to us tomorrow. HIV treatment is so much more than medication. You also have the patient’s social world. A world that he or she can struggle with and we want to offer all the support that is needed.
Read also
The story of Merle Kruiper, nurse consultant at the HIV clinic