CHANDIGARH: Around 300 HIV positive Patients coming to PGIMER at risk of progressing to the third line antiretroviral therapy (ART) - a critical stage of the virus infection—for want of medicines. HIV positive patients are registered for second line ART in PGIMER, Chandigarh, which caters to Jammu and Kashmir,Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Dehradun and Chandigarh. PGI is one of the centres of excellence for ART, north of Delhi. Experts said missing doses, especially when a patient is on second line of treatment, can be very risky. "We have been facing shortage of these medicines for a while, however, this is being resolved. We have tied up with the Punjab State AIDS Control Society, which will give us the medicines. We had been facing the problem for a few days due to cash crunch from NACO," said Dr Vanita Gupta, project director, Chandigarh State AIDS Control Society (SACS). She also said they would reimburse patients who buy medicines from the market. Countering the version of SACS officials, Pooja said, "The total amount for second line ART amounts to around Rs 5,000 per month. This is unaffordable. SACS, which is supposed to procure medicines, blames NACO for the situation,while NACO officials feel otherwise. "We supplied drugs to Punjab a few days ago. There is no shortage of funds from NACO. In fact, it is the responsibility of SACS to provide these medicines," said Dr J S Malhi, regional coordinator, NACO. According to the Network of People living with HIV/Aids, Chandigarh, second line treatment drugs which are out of stock include Lamivudine, Zidovudine and Abacavir. These medicines are supposed to be given in combination. Missing even one renders the course incomplete. "Even children face the same problem. There are 30 children registered with PGIMER's ART for second line treatment," said a doctor at PGIMER. (The Times Of India City) (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) |