Drugs by Indian cos reduces cost of HIV first line treatment
Thursday, 26 August 2010, 07:23 IST
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NEW DELHI: Generic anti-retroviral drugs manufactured by Indian companies have brought down the cost of first line treatment for HIV patients from $ 800 to $ 10 per year even as the HIV epidemic in the country has shown some stabilisation. This information was given by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of Health which met here today. Azad said the HIV epidemic has seen some stabilisation as adult HIV prevalence is now estimated at 0.31 per cent as compared to 0.36 per cent in 2006. The six high prevalence states have shown a declining trend in prevalence, the Minister added. He said 21 new Community Care Centres and 367 Link ART Centres have been established in the last one year. Generic anti-retroviral drugs by Indian companies have brought down the cost of first line treatment from $ 800 per year, a few years back, to $ 10 a month at present, health ministry sources quoted him as saying. He informed the committee that a significant chunk of the estimated populations of high risk groups and populations of truckers and migrants have been reached through targeted interventions which have been successful in bringing down the prevalence of HIV in southern states. The Minister informed that a total of 143.8 lakh clients including 61.2 lakh expecting mothers were counselled in the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICDCs) across the country during 2009-10. For people living with HIV/AIDS, the government has set up 64 new anti-retroviral therapy (ART) centres in last one year. A total of 89,000 new patients are receiving free ART treatment. Azad said a national strategy to tackle the increasing trend of HIV-positive cases amongst migrants is being put in place as states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Rajasthan where out migration is high need to be watched carefully. The Members of the consultative committee raised the issues of universally accepted nomenclature, involvement of educational institutions, blood safety, wider testing, social stigma and use of local languages for the awareness purposes.
Source: PTI
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