Low Viral Suppression in HIV Positive Children and Adolescents on Art in Bweengwa Community of Monze District Southern Province, Zambia

HIV / Aids low viral suppression also known as viral non-suppression is a major health problem in the world especially in children and adolescents. According to the WHO people on ART for more than 6 months should acquire viral suppression but that does not seem to be the case. The study aimed to investigate factors contributing to low viral suppression in children on ART in Bweengwa community. A cross-sectional non-interventional pre-experimental descriptive study type was used to determine factors for contributing to low viral suppression among HIV children and adolescents in Bweengwa community. Purposive sampling method was used to select 80 participants in Bweengwa community through their parents or/and caregivers. The criteria used was parents and caregivers with children and adolescents with viral non suppression and/or on second line of ART treatment who come at Bweengwa RHC between February and August ,2023. A questionnaire with closed ended questions was used to obtain data from the 80 participants. The study used SPSS 27.0.0 to analyze data which was displayed in graphs and tables. The study revealed that parents/caregivers lack knowledge on children’s and adolescents’ HIV viral suppression, influence viral suppression of the child and have low social economic status. The study also revealed that children and adolescents with HIV lack of compliance to medication contributed to the low viral suppression. The study recommended that for long-term ART success, implementing a close monitoring of adherence and risks of viral rebound would be highly relevant, especially for orphans of both parents.