Perception of people living with HIV/Aids in Nasarawa State-Nigeria on artemisia as an immune booster

Abstract

This study is on perception of people living with HIV/AIDS in Nasarawa State-Nigeria on Artemisia as a remedy for boosting of immune system. The objective was to find out whether Artemisia tea/recipe is being used as one of the elements of ART combination therapy for immune boosting by the respondents. A sample of 80 PLWHA was drawn from a total population of 838 members from Nasarawa State Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NASNET) using a stratified random sampling technique. In-depth interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and structured questionnaire were used for data collection. The data collected were analysed using contents analysis as well as quantitative statistical methods such as standard deviation to triangulate the finding. The result revealed that, Artemisia recipe is being used as a salient immune booster apart from its common use as effective recipe for malaria treatment and other feverish conditions. The discussants also revealed that taking Artemisia tea along side ART has improved the CD4 count of PLWHA on re-examination in the hospital better than when taking ART alone. The paper recommends that the federal and state governments should encourage further researches on the use of Artemisia to validate this claim.

Keywords: Perception PLWHA, Artemisia recipe, antiretroviral therapy, alternative measure, and boosting immune system