In a significant judgement for the HIV community in Maharashtra,the Bombay High Court has instructed the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to provide free treatment to all HIV positive people who need 2nd line drugs. The treatment will be provided through the State AIDS Control Society (MSACS).
In response to a public interest litigation submitted by the Network of Maharashtra People with HIV (NMP+),Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice A M Khanwilkar noted that the competent authority has taken a decision to provide free-of-cost appropriate treatment to the petitioners,who are allegedly suffering from HIV. The judgement was given last week.
At an earlier hearing,when NACO pleaded that they could not afford it,the judge insisted that they provide treatment,saying he would order the state government to give them adequate funds to cover it. Second Line drugs are essential for survival of many people with HIV. These are people for whom the normally available treatment for HIV,1 st line drugs,have failed,cause too many side effects,or are no longer effective. These people need an alternative (that is,2nd line or Alternate 1 st line) treatment,says Pravin Salunke Coordinator of the Samarth programme at NMP+.
The government criteria by which people can access 2nd line have been too prescriptive. Patients have been assessed not on clinical need but on such factors as whether they had previously received paid-for treatment,or the number of years they have been on 1st line. Many poor people who do not fall into the Below Poverty Line category have had to devastate their finances to buy the drugs or go without and face the risk of death,adds Vincent McDonald,Communications Advisor at NMP+.
Second line drugs cost approximately Rs 6,000 a month. Around 100 people have been receiving free treatment at JJ Hospital in Mumbai,The NMP+ has been conducting an advocacy campaign on this issue for many months. The Human Rights Law Network has helped them with the litigation in the court. NMP+ believes there are over 200 people who need 2nd line in Maharashtra. Of the 30 petitioners in the original court litigation filed in March,at least six have died.