South African health care providers’ recognition of the links between alcohol and HIV in their daily practice: a pilot study.

This pilot study assessed the extent to which health care providers in HIV care and treatment, substance abuse intervention and employee assistance programmes (EAPs) consider and inform their clients about the role of alcohol use/abuse in HIV transmission, HIV disease progression and adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART). A web- and telephone-based survey was conducted among 84 of the aforementioned programmes. Albeit not routinely, respondents from most organisations reported addressing the issues of alcohol in HIV transmission, disease progression and ART adherence among their clients. Contrary to expectations, many programmes do consider the links between alcohol and HIV and AIDS in their operations, but seem to lack adequate resources, information and skills to intervene in a comprehensive way. Key Words: Alcohol, HIV/AIDS, South Africa, health care providers, antiretroviral therapy, adherence