State to get nine more ART centres

Maharashtra is set to get nine new Antiretroviral Therapy Centres (ART) centres by the year-end. The move follows demands and suggestions from various NGOs and support groups to increase the number of ART centres in the state.

The centres will be set up in Thane, Pune, Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Solapur and Nagpur. At present, there are 49 ART centres in the state.

"Typically, the norm is that if the HIV load of a particular area increases beyond 2,500 persons, we start chalking out plans of setting up a new ART centre in that area. However, this by no means indicates a rise in HIV cases. It only means that there are more people coming in for treatment in the public sector. A lot of these patients are those who have first approached private practitioners and when that has not worked out, have resorted to treatment in the public sector," said Dr Amol Wankhede, joint director of the Care, support and treatment department at the Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS).

MSACS officials have been conducting feasibility tests in these areas to make sure they have the necessary infrastructure for setting up new ART centres. "Factors such as space and open area attached to the ART centres have to be considered. In addition, fresh staff such as counsellors, medical officers, nurses and lab technicians also have to be recruited. After all these arrangements are made, can one go ahead with the setting up of the centre," Wankhede said.

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