Abstract

Timi Fiekumo Buseri, Boutuaere Otogie, Peter Pereotubo Akpe, Owonaro A. Peter*, Ibegi, Ibegi Saviour, Olodiama, Providencia Chichi, Henry Messiah TMT, Osain P. Henry, Daughter A. Owonaro

ABSTRACT

Background. Despite a heavy mental-health burden, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in low-resource settings often go untreated. Identifying what blocks and what enables access to psychotropic medication is essential for closing this treatment gap and for integrating mental-health care into HIV services. Objective: To identify the barriers and facilitators to antidepressant and antipsychotic access and adherence among PLWHA in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, and to derive practical strategies for integrated care. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 336 PLWHA at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa (77 psychotropic users) collected data on barriers and facilitators using a structured questionnaire, analysed descriptively in SPSS v27.Results: The leading barriers were cost (41.6%), stigma (32.5%) and discrimination (16.9%). The principal facilitators were counselling (32.5%), health-insurance coverage (24.7%) and awareness/health education (18.2%). Prescribing was concentrated within a single psychiatric service, and medicines were obtained mainly from the public hospital. Conclusion: Financial and social barriers, not unwillingness to treat, drive the mental-health treatment gap among PLWHA in this high-burden setting. Expanding insurance coverage of essential psychotropics, embedding counselling and screening in routine HIV care, task-shifting prescribing, and community anti-stigma action offer a feasible route to integrated mental-health and HIV services.

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