Kerala Govt launches Anti- retroviral therapy

[Guest guest]

KERALA GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES ANTI-RETROVIRAL THERAPY FOR HIV-INFECTED

Dear Friends,

The Government of Kerala on Wednesday launched its ambitious scheme of

providing free anti-retroviral therapy to HIV-infected persons.

This is the first time in the country that a State Government is taking an

initiative to launch free treatment for the HIV-infected, using its own funds.

The Government is investing Rs. 1.65 crores for buying the drugs, which

will be made available to patients through the five Medical College

Hospitals in the State.

Inaugurating the programme, the Health Minister, K. K. Ramachandran, said

that steps would be taken to make the drugs available through district

hospitals also, once the programme took off.

He pointed out that despite being a highly literate society; the people

here continue to discriminate against HIV-infected persons.

The anti-retroviral drugs will help those infected with HIV to lead

near-normal lives for a long time, Mr. Ramachandran said.

Three-drug regimen

The therapy, which includes a three-drug regimen, will be handled by the

General Medicine departments in medical colleges. Persons, who have

confirmed their HIV positive status through tests at the Voluntary

Counseling and Testing Centres, can register their names at the General

Medicine department. Not all those who are HIV-infected require

anti-retroviral therapy. Doctors can decide on therapy for a patient only

after measuring the plasma viral load and CD4 lymphocyte count in blood.

The former is an indication of the magnitude of the viral load, while CD4

indicates the extent of damage that has been caused to the immune system.

Life-long treatment

According to the estimates of Kerala State Aids Control Society (KSACS),

the number of those who require drugs in the State would come to around

1,500. The treatment costs for one person would come to nearly Rs. 1,000 a

month.

As the treatment is a life-long affair and cannot be discontinued, patients

will have to undergo counseling and awareness classes before the treatment

is started. Patients would also be apprised of the possible side-effects of

the drugs before beginning the treatment.

Those who spoke at the inaugural session included E. K. Bharat Bhushan,

Principal Secretary (Health) and the Project Director, KSACS; K. Shailaja,

Additional Director of Health Services, the president of Council of People

living with HIV/AIDS, O. ph, among others. K. Mohan Kumar, MLA, presided.

Comments from the Human Rights Angle

Though government of India announced in 2003 December that it would provide

ARV treatment to 100,000 children, mothers, and others who need it in six

high-prevalence states beginning April 1, 2004, it has not been implemented

so far in other states except in Delhi. It had begun administering

treatment to small numbers of people living with AIDS in a few areas. We

welcome this development. In addition to ARV medicines, people with

HIV/AIDS have a desperate need for other basic medical care, which our

public health system has failed to provide to the marginalized (Eg:

Sabira). It is very important that people already facing discrimination,

such as sex workers, children of sex workers, street children and tribal

populations, are not discriminated against in the administration of the

anti retroviral program, and that testing is done and drugs provided in

such a way that does not reveal to the rest of the community that a person

is HIV-positive, thus exposing her or him to discrimination. If the

program is successful, more people will be tested, learn their status, and

be treated: more HIV-positive children may well be living in our

communities, schools, health care facilities, and orphanages.Thus, it is

crucial that the Kerala government immediately put into place protections

against discrimination for people living with HIV/AIDS.

(Courtesy to the Hindu and HRW)

Subhash

SEX WORKER'S FORUM KERALA

FIRM-ANASOOYA

T.C.14/1514,Beatrice Mansion

Thycaud Post, Thiruvananthapuram-695 014, Kerala, India.

Tel: ++91-471-2324060, ++ 91-9447389517

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