DR EMEKA FRANCIS OKONJI

Dr Okonji is a senior monitoring and evaluation manager at Right to Care (RTC), an NGO that provides prevention, treatment care and support for people living with HIV (PLHIV). He has just completed his PhD in Public Health at the UWC. He holds a master’s degree in demography and population studies, a master’s in management in public and development management from Wits University and a BSc (Hons) in human nutrition from the University of Ibadan Nigeria.

Dr Okonji provides monitoring and evaluation technical advice to the RTC HIV programme implementation. The focus of his PhD research was evaluating the RTC adolescent psychosocial support intervention designed to improve adherence and retention in antiretroviral treatment. This research has informed the strengthening and scale-up of the adolescent psychosocial support programme.

The Right to Care adolescent psychosocial support inter-vention, in conjunction with the standard of care provided at the Ehlanzeni District clinics, improved antiretroviral treatment adherence and retention in care among adolescents living with HIV by addressing the complex biological, psychological and social issues that affect adolescents living with HIV.

Adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) face many challenges related to adherence to antiretroviral treatment (ART) and remaining engaged in care. Some of these challenges result from the physiological and psychosocial characteristics of their stage of development. Providing psychosocial support could mitigate high levels of anxiety, fear of disclosing their HIV-positive status, low self-esteem, low self-efficacy, depressive disorders, and suicide reported among adolescents living with HIV.