Re:HIV victim denied drug, right to information

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HIV victim denied drug, right to information

Joydeep Thakur

KOLKATA, April 3: An HIV patient has approached the state health

department in order to seek information on life saving treatments

and counseling provided by the state government citing the Right to

Information Act after he was denied life saving drugs by an NGO.

Unfortunately, his request has not been complied with.

Animesh Chakraborty (name changed) was denied the life saving Anti-

Retro Viral drug he was taking as part of a second line treatment by

the very organisation that was supporting him with free medication.

Mr Chakraborty, who is undergoing treatment at the School of

Tropical Medicine, tested HIV positive in 1999. Dr Subhasis Guha of

STM had recommended Mr Chakraborty's name to the NGO run by Dr Jack

Preger named Calcutta Rescue Centre. The second line of drugs was,

however, stopped by Dr Preger.

Dr Preger, who is chairperson of the NGO, said Mr Chakraborty was

not taking the drug regularly and had missed some doses which makes

him likely to develop drug resistance. " What is the use of spending

Rs 9,500 on him every month if there are doubts about the drug's

efficacy? There are thousands of needy patients who can't afford to

buy the drug. It is wise to spend on them, " Dr Preger said.

Mr Chakraborty had approached the West Bengal AIDS Control &

Prevention Society and the West Bengal Human Rights Commission for

intervention but to no avail. Now he has approached the state health

ministry under the RTI Act ~ the first for any HIV patient.

In his letter addressed to the Public Information Officer of the

state health and family welfare department, Mr Chakraborty who, as

an HIV positive Indian citizen, is entitled to free Anti Retro-viral

treatment from state run health centres, has sought information

about centres in the state where ARV treatment is provided and

whether or not the state government commit itself to provide free

counseling and ART treatment to the HIV infected. He has also sought

figures on how many HIV positive persons reside in West Bengal and

how many of them receive the free ARV treatment provided by the

government at the VCTC Centres and Hospitals. The victim also wanted

to know about the counseling provided to HIV patients by the state

governments.

All these information had been sought within 48 hours from receiving

this application under Section 7 (1) of the Right to Information

Act. " But seven days have gone by and I am yet to hear from the

PIO, " Mr Chakraborty said.

The Statesman, Kolkata Plus. 04-04-2007

______________________

Bhaduri Snehansu

e-mail: <snehansu_bhaduri@...>