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.

"We are talking to the jail authorities and five such link ART centers are likely to be set up soon at jails in Pune, Thane, Amravati, Aurangabad and Nashik," says Jain. In Maharashtra an approximate 60,000 HIV positive people whose CD 4 count is failing and below 250 are receiving the ART while 1.5 lakh HIV people have been registered for care and support, says Jain.

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