Urgent issues to be addressed at ART centers

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

I would like to bring the following points for discussion and suitable

action by the concerned.

1. The increasing mortality rate among PLHA's initiated with ART.

2. The lack of trained ART Medical officers. I Strongly feel that that initial

15 day training is not enough to manage thousands of PLHAs on-ART.

3. The working hours of ART centers. Given the increasing number of

PLHAs accessing ART centers, almost all centers function only for ½ a day with

full medical team. Medical officers are not available at most of the ART centers

post-lunch.

4. This eventually reduces the quality of care; the whole process of

registration, follow-up, pill count, individual counseling, group counseling,

medical consultation, getting drugs from pharmacy has to happen for all those

who access the ART center before lunch for the simple reason the Medical

officers will not be available in the after-noon.

We encourage the District Program Mangers, Nodal Officers to make surprise visit

to ART centers to confirm this.

5. The other departments ation (like ENT, Gastro, ortho etc.,)

is also not existent in many of these hospitals with ART centers. Mere ART

cannot be a solution for all my other illness like, diabetes, cardio, neuro.

This cooperation is needed for comprehensive medical support.

6. Excluding Namakkal and Tambaram ART centers, none of the other centers have

in-patient facility for admitting those who are started with ART. This increases

the risk of non-adherence to the drug because of initial complications and also

increases the mortality rate.

Karunanidhi.G,

Tamil Nadu Networking people with HIV/AIDS (TNNP+)

No.31, kumarasamy Raja Street

Shenoy Nagar, Madurai-625020

PH: 0452-2523134/2523505

FAX:0452-4392929

E-mail: tnnpplus@...