The Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), Britain's leading HIV/Aids charity, is to set up "treatment buddies" to help people take the combinations of drugs they need to combat the virus.

The new service will operate alongside the traditional buddy set-up.

This was based on an American system which involves volunteers befriending people with Aids and supporting them in their final months.

Combination therapy

With the advent of combination drug therapy, the number of deaths from Aids has plummeted and some people have seen the virus dwindle to almost undetectable levels - although the drugs do not work for everyone.

But they are difficult to take. Some people are having to swallow up to 30 pills a day, including anti-retroviral drugs and those that combat specific illnesses such as pneumonia.

Many have to be taken at specific times of the day and with specific diets in order to ensure they keep combating the virus.

Some, for example, have to be taken on an empty stomach an hour before food; others cannot be taken with a fatty diet and still others have to be taken after eating a lot of starchy food.

This can have a big effect on a person's social life and can be particularly problematic at times like Christmas.

"The pills are very, very difficult to take and they make you lose the spontaneity from your life and you may be on them for the rest of your life," said Tom Lawson, a spokesman for the THT.

Information and support

The treatment buddies will begin work in the New Year.

Their job is to give people up-to-date information about the drug therapies and help them to take the pills at the right time.

The people who will get treatment buddies will be referred by health workers or THT counsellors.

Combination therapy can cost up to £10,000 a year

They will include people who have just started taking combination therapy, people who have particular difficulties taking the drugs because of their lifestyle or personal circumstances, such as isolation, and people who have previously had trouble staying on the drugs.

Mr Lawson said doctors sometimes prescribed drugs without taking into account the realities of a person's life which might make it difficult for them to take them at certain times.

For example, they might suggest a programme which means getting up at 4am to take a drug when a person knows they will never be able to stick to that schedule.

The buddy can advise about alternatives and is likely to have high level contact with the client to ensure they take their drugs on schedule.

Many buddies will have personal experience of taking combination therapy and some may be nurses.

Adapting to change

The THT hopes to put about 50 through a rigorous training course in the New Year, but is having difficulty recruiting buddies in general.

It expects treatment buddies to work with clients for a six-month period until they are well established on their treatment programme.

The treatment buddy service is an example of how Aids organisations have had to adapt to the new realities of combination therapy.

Because statutory budgets for HIV/Aids include care and treatment and because treatment costs around £10,000 per person a year, money for care has been cut back.

Aids organisations have had to adapt. The THT is merging with some other organisations and its general support services have also become more streamlined.