An HIV vaccine may take some time to become a reality, but in the meantime, antiretroviral treatment (ART) ramains the only hope for HIV patients. Close on the heels of World AIDS Day (December1), the Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS) will set up 62 ART centres in the state that will be functional by mid-December.

National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) director Dr R S Paranjape said, “We have enrolled 500 patients in the free-of-cost ART programme and so far only four require second line treatment of anti HIV drugs.” However, the patients are part of NARI’s clinical trials and studies and now NARI looks forward to including more patients at their ART centre which will be fully functional within four months. “We require administrative staff and National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) has assured us to look into the matter,”said Paranjape.

At Sassoon Hospital, at least 19,950 patients have been screened since January 2005. A total of 8,912 patients were on ART, out of which several now receive the benefit from the link ART centres and hence do not travel to Sassoon all the way for treatment, said Dr D B Kadam, in-charge of the ART centre at Sassoon. A total of 15 patients require second line treatment of anti HIV drugs, said Kadam, adding that consistent efforts are made to counsel patients to adhere to treatment.

Dr Shrikant Tripathy, a scientist at NARI, said it is a challenge to ensure that patients adhere to treatment as there are large number of HIV patients getting screened for their CD 4 counts. “We have to constantly train new staff and counsellors to enable them to give efficient care to HIV infected patients,” said Tripathy who also pointed out that the guidelines also include free ART for patients whose CD 4 count is below 350 instead of the earlier 200.

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