HIV+ patients pushed to the edge

Two weeks after pharmacists in Imphal sent out a distress signal over shortage of medicines, a number of HIV/AIDS NGOs have come together to form the Taskforce for Empowering in Addressing Medical Issues (TEAM) and have submitted a memorandum to Governor S S Sidhu. Manipur has been facing a drug crisis for more than a month due to extortion demands served on medicine manufacturers. Nearly 200 major and minor drug companies have stopped their supplies to the state.

NGOs Lifeline Foundation, SASO, Manipur Network of Positive People, CARE Foundation, Kripa Society and NEIHRN, which came together to form TEAM, have urged the state Government to consider the concerns of HIV-positive patients who are on the life-saving Anti-Retro Viral (ARV) drugs.

What TEAM is most apprehensive about is that if there is a shortage of ARV drugs, there is a risk of high resistance building up due to a break in the lifelong course.

According to official figures, there are over 26,000 HIV/AIDS patients in Manipur and many of them are on first-line ARV. Of them, only around 3,000 are able to avail this medicine free of cost at Government-run ART (Anti Retroviral Therapy) centres. The rest buy it from the open market. This medication specifies that the drug should be taken without a break. If first-line ARV drugs run out, users will develop a very high resistance to it and will have to take recourse to second-line ARV drugs, which will cost Rs 8,000-9,000 per month. For those already on second-line ARV, lack of the same will mean switching to third-line ARV, which is not available in India. “By not taking action, they are pushing us to the edge,” said a senior TEAM member.

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