D

espite needing to take regular medication, people living with HIV (PLHIV) can still fast, medical experts say.

“Fasting is not a problem for people living with HIV, as long as they have the willingness to do so,” clinical nutrition expert Dr Paul Matulessy said in a discussion on Friday.

Paul explained that fasting for PLHIV, as with healthy people, was just a matter of shifting their meal times.

For PLHIV, however, it also means adjusting the time of their medication intake, which would take practice.

“They would need a week or two to adapt by gradually moving their dosage time forward or backward,” he added.

It is necessary for PLHIV to take antiretroviral (ARV) medicine, which inhibits effects on HIV replication, once or twice daily.

According to Paul, although it is important that PLHIV take their ARV medicine on time, a two-hour delay in consuming it was considered acceptable.

Therefore, in preparation for fasting, PLHIV should gradually delay or move forward their ARV intake time — two hours each day — until it coincides with time of the predawn meal (sahur) and the breaking of the fast.

Paul also added that a healthy, balanced diet, in terms of both quality and quantity, was also important.

Jakarta AIDS Handling Commission secretary Rohana Manggala advised that HIV positive people understand the challenges that fasting posed before fasting.

“People living with HIV and AIDS can fast, but they must consult a doctor first,” she said.

She added that PLHIV who were physically weak should refrain from the ritual.

“It is better that those who feel weak pay fidyah (compensation alms for those not fasting),” she said.

An HIV positive patient, who has fasted every Ramadhan since her HIV diagnosis in 2002, said she experienced no obstacle in fasting.

“In fact, fasting gives a positive effect as it helps me manage my metabolism,” she said.

According to the Jakarta Health Agency, there were 1,288 HIV cases in Jakarta in 2010, 730 of which included intravenous drug users.