For all those HIV-positive patients who waited for the second-line therapy for HIV/AIDS, the Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS) announced the availability of these drugs at three more centres in the state.
The assistant director of MSACS, Betsy Varghese, told DNA the second-line anti-retroviral therapy (ART) was so far available only at JJ Hospital in Mumbai. It would now be available at BJ Medical College in Pune and the medical colleges in Nagpur and Aurangabad.
There were many patients who demanded second-line treatment to be started in their cities, or at least near their towns, as they found travelling to Mumbai tiring and expensive.
“The second-line ART is given to those who develop drug resistance to the first-line therapy and experience deteriorated health conditions. To give second-line only recently the team members of these colleges were trained in Mumbai by MSACs at a workshop. The drugs will be distributed this week itself to all these three centres. Besides, at a national conference on paediatric HIV in Delhi this week, all ART heads and medical officers will be present,” said Varghese.
There are currently 700 HIV+ patients from the state who are on second-line therapy, added Varghese.
MSACS also announced the establishment of 182 integrated counselling and testing centres (ICTCs) across the state under the public-private partnership. The standalone ICTCs run by MSACs in the state are 578 and are associated with rural, district and government hospitals.
