2.6L HIV patients have no access to treatment

September 30, 2010

Kounteya Sinha, TNN, Sep 30, 2010

NEW DELHI: Around 3.2 lakh HIV patients in India were on life-saving

anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in December 2009 — more than 85,000 patients from

the previous year. Be that as it may, 2.6 lakh people are still in dire need of

ART.

According to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) latest report, " Towards

Universal Access " , which tracks progress in achieving the 2010 target for HIV

prevention, treatment and care; around 5.8 lakh HIV patients required ART in

end-2009.

Globally, the HIV epidemic continued to be a real public health challenge as

around 33.4 million people are suffering from the lethal disease. In 2008 alone,

2.7 million people were newly infected with the virus.

According to the report, only one-third of HIV patients have been put on ART,

and coverage of prevention interventions is largely inadequate.

This year, WHO's revised guidelines on ART for adults and adolescents, including

would-be mothers, said ART would be initiated when CD4 cell counts reach or drop

below 350 cells/mm3, irrespective of whether the patients have clinical

symptoms. As per this count, though an estimated 11 -14 lakh HIV patients in

India need ART, only 23% are receiving the treatment.

The number of pregnant women, who require ART, is pegged at 43,000. But only 21%

are covered. Another 30,000-76,000 HIV positive children, too, require ART.

However, there has been a spurt in the number of HIV tests across the world. For

instance, 100 countries had tested 67 million people last year.

In 82 countries — for which comparable data was available for 2008 and 2009 —

the median number of tests performed per 1,000 people had increased from 41 to

50, respectively. ART coverage, among young adults less than 15 years, has gone

up from 22% in 2008 to 28% in 2009.

Even the percentage of HIV positive pregnant women receiving ART to prevent

mother-to-child transmission has increased from 45% in 2008 to 53% in 2009. In

end-2009, 5.25 million people were receiving ART in low and middle-income

countries, including India, which translates to an increase of over 1.2 million

people from the previous year.

The report maintains that HIV-related TB remains a cause for concern. In 2008,

of the 9.4 million TB cases reported worldwide, an estimated 1.4 million were

diagnosed among HIV patients. Though the rate of HIV test and counselling for TB

patients is rising, the initiative is insufficient.

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