AIDS budget focus on prevention: NACO (and cuts the budget)

September 17, 2010

[Editors note: Anyone got a copy of NACO's affidavit to the Supreme Court?]

AIDS budget focus on prevention: Naco

Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN, Sep 17, 2010, 03.11am IST

NEW DELHI: Claiming that India has a low prevalence of AIDS with 99.69%

population uninfected by the disease, the Centre has reduced the HIV related

budget by Rs 100 crores, from Rs 1,030.87 crores in 2008-09 to Rs 924.1 crores

in 2009-10.

Informing the Supreme Court in an affidavit about this decision, the National

AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) said that the low prevalence of HIV has also

prompted the government to focus more on preventing new infections in high risk

groups and general population rather than on care and treatment of the existing

patients.

In the year 2008-09, a total of Rs 1,030.87 crores was spent on HIV related

activities out of which Rs 239.59 crores (23.3%) was used on Care, Support and

Treatment (CST). In 2009-10, of a total of Rs 924.1 crores, the expenses

incurred on account of CST was Rs 254.79 crores (23.6%), NACO said.

The lowering of the budget was due to reduction in grants from the Global Fund

for Care, Support and Treatment (GFCST). It said: " NACO had submitted a proposal

of $530 million to GFCST. However, of these, only $420 million have been

approved for the period of six years (April 2010 to March 2016). The entire CST

budget is funded by grants received from the Global Fund. "

With resources limited by fund crunch, NACO said that it was focussing more on

giving first line Anti-Retroviral (ART) treatment than the second line ART

needed for a small number of serious patients.

Refusing second line ART to patients who had got their first line treatment from

private hospitals, NACO said: " The government has been of the considered view

that the immediate priority must be the expansion and strengthening of first

line treatment. In case of HIV treatment, for the cost of one second line ART,

six patients can be put on first line ART and 25 persons can be treated for

tuberculosis. "

Giving hope to lakhs of patients, NACO said if the first line treatment was

properly administered, then a person can be kept on the same treatment for 8 to

10 years.

dhananjay.mahapatra@...

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