3 min readPuneAug 22, 2014 04:31 AM IST
First published on: Aug 22, 2014 at 04:31 AM IST
Anti-retroviral treatment (ART) centres are being rechristened as Active ART Services in Health Area or AASHA centres — symbolising ‘hope’ for people suffering from HIV. “This is being done with a view to change the mindset from ‘How long will I live?’ to one of ‘I have HIV- so what?’,” said Dr Swapnali Patil, joint director, Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS).
All the HIV positive patients enrolled in the ART centres have to undergo CD4 count test. If CD4 is less than 350 copies/ml of blood, the patient is shifted to ART, which is a life-long treatment. Across the state, 1.75 lakh patients, of whom 49 per cent are women, avail of free drugs from 82 ART centres. There are 7,800 children living with HIV on medication, while a total of 2,800 require second line ART.
All ART centres provide free treatment for opportunistic infections. Patil said they had 1,75,804 patients who were alive on ART. The MSACS has also launched new initiatives for prevention of stigma and discrimination. There was a need to address the sense of hopelessness that sets in when the HIV+ status is disclosed to a patient, she pointed out.
Strategies to prevent HIV are bearing fruits, said Dr Asha Hegde, joint director, basic services division, who was also in the city at a workshop organised at YASHDA.
As per the National AIDS Control Organisation’s (NACO) technical report 2010 (NACO, 2010), Maharashtra ranked third in HIV prevalence in the country in 2008. But the recent NACO technical report of 2012 ranks Maharashtra sixth in HIV prevalence. The report shows that there has been a 57 per cent reduction in new infections between 2000 and 2011 due to the prevention strategies introduced.
A new telemedicine project has been launched that helps children living with HIV. It connects affected children from districts where doctors are not available for treatment with specialists at Paediatric Centre of Excellence, Sion Hospital in Mumbai. The project helps such children avail of state-of-the-art treatment by sparing them the trip to Mumbai, through telemedicine from ART centres near their homes. Dr Swati Mohapatra, communication specialist, UNICEF Maharashtra, said focus must also be accorded to adolescents living with HIV.
MSACS has also introduced its website which now boasts of Google mapping of all HIV service facilities in the state. It now gives communities access to information at the click of a mouse. “It has also put in place an SMS system through which outreach workers and counsellors, among others, are being informed to alert mothers and children living with HIV to come for their monthly check-ups and treatments,” said Vilas Deshpande, joint director, Information Education and Communication, MSACS.
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