Journalism of Courage
Following reports of shortage of drugs, AIDS Society of India (ASI) has urged the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to resume supply of HIV medicines at every centre and ensure minimum one-month dispensation to those stable on the anti-retroviral therapy (ART).
In a statement issued here, ASI co-founder and president Dr Ishwar Gilada has appealed to NACO, which comes under the Union Health and Family Welfare ministry, to heed to drug stockouts and shortages as reported by people living with HIV who are on an indefinite sit-in outside their offices for over a month now.
Dr Gilada, who opened the country’s first HIV clinic following the diagnosis of the first case in India in 1986, said, “The gains made by India by providing anti-retroviral therapy to 16 lakh people can be lost if drug supplies are not stable. Government of India’s 2018 guidelines recommend providing HIV medicine supplies of 3 months to all those people who are stable on the therapy. Communities on an indefinite sit-in are demanding 1-month supply, as they are reporting cases where people are getting supplies for 7-10 days or less, or some being provided with paediatric doses or vice versa.”
Dr Gilada further said in his statement: “When consumers report gaps in best of services, it is prudent in the interest of public welfare and meeting India’s target of ending AIDS in next 100 months (by 2030) to pay heed to these complaints and promptly redress them, so as to strengthen the national AIDS programme of India, and accelerate progress and not lose momentum.”
According to scientific evidence, a person stable on ART and virally suppressed is likely to have the same life expectancy as an HIV-negative person of the same age in a similar context. “Evidence is now clear that people living with HIV with an undetectable viral load cannot transmit HIV sexually,” Dr Gilada said.
According to the UNAIDS and World Health Organisation (WHO), HIV treatment works best when taken as prescribed. “Missing doses and stopping and re-starting treatment can lead to drug resistance, which can allow HIV to multiply and progress to disease,” Dr Gilada added.
