AIDS patients in 6 States to get free drugs

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AIDS patients in 6 States to get free drugs

The Union Health Minister Sushma Swaraj, said here today that antiretroviral

drugs would be made available free to HIV/AIDS patients in Tamil Nadu, Andhra

Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur and Nagaland from April 1.

The supply would initially be to three categories of patients; children of

parents living with HIV, women having the infection and men, who suffer from

full-blown AIDS. The supply would be provided through Government hospitals and

antenatal clinics. The programme would be extended to other parts of the

country.

Addressing a press conference on the eve of the World AIDS Day, Ms. Swaraj said

the six States had been choseen since the rate of prevalence of the disease was

the highest in them and also because they had the right kind of infrastructure.

The new initiative is expected to cost about Rs. 200 crores a year - Rs. 113

crores for the medicines and the remaining Rs. 87 crores for the screening of

HIV/AIDS patients. Drugs are given only to those in whom the viral load had

crossed a certain threshold limit.

India is currently estimated to have 4.58 million HIV patients of whom about

four lakhs are estimated to require the drugs. So far only about 25,000

patients have access to them, as they are expensive. The programme envisages

increasing the number to at least 1.25 lakhs.

The initiative follows discussions between Ms. Swaraj and the representative of

the drug manufacturing companies. The companies have agreed to provide the

drugs at a lower price to the Government. But have urged for exemptions on

customs duty, excise duty and other such levies.

Sources say the companies have agreed to bring the price - to an average of Rs.

18 per patient a day immediately and offered a further cut of about Rs.2 if

exemptions on the levies were given.

At present, a patient has to spend about Rs. 40 daily.

Ms. Swaraj, said she would take up the issues with the Finance Minister, Jaswant

Singh and the Planning Commission on the need to give the exemptions sought by

the industry in the Union Budget.

The Confederation of Indian Industry has agreed to provide 150 machines used for

assessing the load of HIV virus in the patients free.

Each machines costs about Rs. 25 lakhs and there are only 25 in the country.

The Government plans to make Bellary district on the Andhra Pradesh - Karnataka

border HIV - free in five years.

The district has been chosen since it has a high disease prevalence rate.

The Bellary experiment is expected to be a model not only for the country but

also for the world, she said.

To a query, Ms. Swaraj said she was according much importance to condoms to

prevent the HIV infection. " I just want that the anti-AIDS programme should not

be condom - centric and that there be a holistic approach, focussing on other

routes of transmission of the disease as well. "

The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) Director, Meenakshi Dutta Ghosh,

said financial provision for procurement and supply of condoms had gone up to

Rs.22 crores this year from last year's Rs.12 crores and condoms made available

by NACO has gone up to 171 million pieces from 128 million pieces for the

corresponding period.

Source: The Hindu,December 1,2003,Madurai Edition

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