Viral Load marup: Enterprising venture

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Viral Load marup: Enterprising venture

The Imphal Free Press

IMPHAL, Jul 24: " There are so many marups in Manipur. Few women will

get together and organised a gold-marup. Wearing gold is not a

compulsion. But getting viral load counted is a must for us. So we

started a viral load marup under the initiative of ECHEMA. "

Before explaining what viral load is, Priya, 40, (name changed) went

on to say, " There are 15 members, all HIV positive. Every month we

contribute Rs 100 each and we select the weakest among us to get her

viral load counted. "

Agreeing with Priya, Kamla, 40, (name changed) said, " With this test

we get to know whether the ART we are taking is able to minimize the

number of virus inside our body. This test cost above Rs 3000 and

spending that kind of money is unthinkable for us. So we have 15

members contributing Rs 100 each and thus share the financial burden

most practically. "

Jeevan Yambem, chief functionary Empowerment of Community for Health,

Education, and Multitude Advancement (ECHEMA) said, " These women are

always tensed, not knowing whether the medicines (ART) they are

taking are minimizing the viruses or not. So the concept of this

marup was born. Last month we sent the blood sample of one of the

members and we are waiting for the result. "

Jeevan said that Dr Diamond's help is taken in making this effort a

reality. She said, " It is due to Dr Diamond's help that these women

could get their viral load counted. Dr Diamond is instrumental in

getting a significant fee waiver and moreover he maintains a clear

report of each case. "

When IFP contacted Dr Diamond, he said, " The actual cost is Rs 3500.

After I requested the company for some concessions, they reduced the

total cost to Rs 2000. Out of this, the testing laboratory Babina

Clinic charged only Rs 1000. So these women had to pay only Rs 1000

and Rs 450 service charges. "

Explaining what viral load count is, the doctor said that this

counting is done to find out the number of virus count per milliliter

of blood. He said that among the three goals of ART, bringing down

the count of the virus to zero is the most important along with

strengthening the immune system and fighting illnesses.

On asked when the viral load count should be done, Dr Diamond

said, " In developed countries ART is started after doing both viral

load and CD4 count. But in the developing countries, ART

administration is based only on CD4 count. The WHO guidelines also

made CD4 count compulsory while viral load is optional. "

He said that WHO guidelines, which are followed in India, lay down

that viral load counting is required when there are multiple

opportunistic infections and when the CD4 count of a person on ART

for a long time could not cross 100.

Though free ARV roll out started in 2004 in Manipur, there are many

people who are on ART for almost 10 years. Dr Diamond said that

having its own PCR – the machine which counts the viral load – is a

must for Manipur. He said that NACO has already started process to

provide PCR soon for the state.

Kamla said, " If we have our own machine here, it would mean less cost

and better accessibility for us. " The future looks bright for these

enterprising women.

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