Who will pay for patient education?

ABSTRACT

AIDS Large differences between European countries exist on how HIV-infected patients get educated on available therapies. In Southern European countries and Eastern Europe, treatment education is still underdeveloped, with Spain being the furthest advanced in this area. In the United Kingdom, the AIDS Treatment Project provides telephone counseling and advocacy, and community organizations have recently launched a campaign encouraging compliance with treatment regimens. Other organizations offering education include ACT UP Paris, Info SIDA, Action Traitements, and Arcat SIDA. A European network, the European AIDS Treatment Group, links treatment activists and educators. Community organizations are looking to the pharmaceutical industry to support their work, but financial support for treatment education is a problem, partly because of the suspicion people with HIV have of any messages emanating from pharmaceutical companies.^ieng