Pune: Anti Retroviral Treatment centres to come up in jail

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Anti Retroviral Treatment centres to come up in jails

Jul 08, 2009 at 0507 hrs

Pune: The government has plans to set up link Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART)

centres in jails to ensure the easy availability of drugs for HIV positive

prisoners. Presently, a review of the ART centres is underway and a national

team including Dr B B Rewary, national coordinator for the government's ART

programme and other National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) officials will be

visiting Pune on July 9 and 10.

When contacted, Rewary told The Indian Express that there are 217 ART centres

and 254 community care centres in the country. " Nearly 2.3 lakh HIV positive

persons are on ART and we are in the process of reviewing the ART centres. A

decision will also be taken soon about setting link ART centres in the jails. "

NACO coordinator for the Western region of Maharashtra and Goa Rekha Jain, when

contacted said they were toying with the possibility of converting the facility

of integrated counselling and treatment centres at five jails in Maharashtra to

function as link ART centres. " This means, apart from prevention and

counselling, HIV positive jail inmates who need treatment can get ART at the

prison rather than be referred to nodal centres, " says Jain.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/anti-retroviral-treatment-centres-to-come-up-i\

n-jails/486568/