Nutritional status and art adherence of HIV/AIDS orphans: A systematic review

This article systematically reviews the literature pertaining to nutritional status and anti-retroviral treatment (ART) adherence of HIV/AIDS orphans. Studies related to HIV/AIDS orphans belonging to the age group of 0 to 15 yrs, who had lost either or both parents to HIV/AIDS and are cared by non-parents were selected for the purpose of the review. The review indicates that there is low nutritional status of HIV/AIDS orphans and they suffer from various co-morbid infections. They have good ART adherence rate and ART effectively increased their CD4 count and weight. Proper attention medical and health care, nutrition, school-based care, life skills training, sexual and reproductive health awareness, psychological counseling and support interventions are required for improving ART adherence and nutritional status of HIV/AIDS orphans.