Govt ARV project has a waitlist of 400

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Govt AIDS project has a waitlist of 400

ABANTIKA GHOSH

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ MONDAY, AUGUST 16, 2004 12:40:08 AM ]

NEW DELHI: The anti-retroviral therapy (ART) programme started by

the Delhi government on April 1 has already notched up a waiting

list of 400 patients within the first four months of its existence.

The programme is being run from two hospitals — Ram Manohar Lohia

and Lok Nayak. Out of 600 patients short-listed by doctors at the

two hospitals, so far, only 200 have been given the drug. This

despite what is, by the doctors' own admission, a 'complicated'

procedure of registration.

This, however, is not the only problem with the ART programme. The

government, evidently in a hurry to get it started before the

general elections in May, hardly has a system to back it up. With

the result that not only have the drugs run out, there are no clear

guidelines regarding the maintenance and repair of the CD4 and CD8

machines that were installed as part of the programme.

Delhi has an estimated 35,000 HIV-positive patients and despite its

small size, stands fourth in the list of the worst-hit states in the

country. As per the CAG report for the year 2002-2003, which was

tabled in the Delhi Assembly on Wednesday, Delhi has seen a virtual

explosion in the number of AIDS cases in the last four years. The

total number of patients was 359 in December 1999. By October 2003,

it had risen to 862.

According to officials of the state AIDS project who are working on

the ART programme, the main problem, in this case, is not really the

lack of funds, but the lack of proper guidelines for their usage.

Said an official, " We are not authorised to buy the drugs. They are

supplied by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO). Despite

all measures to ensure that only those patients who are in dire need

of the drugs get it, the waiting list is lengthening. "

Arun Baroka, AIDS project director, Delhi, said, " We have already

met the initial target of 200 patients and have asked for more

medicines from NACO. But they also have certain limitations. Delhi

is not exactly a high prevalence state. "

The officials are still not clear about the financial allocation for

the project.

" We have received a letter from NACO saying that Rs 1 crore should

be allocated, but it is not clear whether that money would be from

the total allocation of Rs 5 crore that we have received so far for

the cumulative AIDS and STD control programme, or it will be given

apart from it. We have asked for a clarification, " the official added

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