India neglecting children living with HIV/AIDS

[Guest guest]

Stop HIV/AIDS in India Initiative (SHAII)

www.shaii.org

India neglecting children living with HIV/AIDS

Faster Action Needed before Upcoming UN Meeting

Contact:

Dr. Vineeta Gupta, Washington D.C., email guptahr@...

Rajvinder Singh Bains, Chandigarh, email: rsbains_22@...

Sunil , Banglore, email: mail2sunilgeorge@...

Washington, DC, April 17 – As the Indian government prepares to attend a UN

review of progress in fighting AIDS, a number of organizations, including Stop

HIV/AIDS in India Initiative (SHAII), U.S.; Association for India’s Development,

College Park, U.S.; Gram Bharati Samiti (GBS), Jaipur, India; Punjab Human

Rights Organization, Punjab; and Global AIDS Alliance, U.S., are calling on the

Indian Government to move faster to help children living with HIV/AIDS. The

organizations are calling on India to issue guidelines for treating children

living with AIDS and to ensure they receive prompt diagnosis and treatment.

“The slowness of the Indian government in delivering treatment is simply an

outrage,” said Dr. Vineeta Gupta, Director of the Stop HIV/AIDS in India

Initiative. “When will our government finally speed up action to save lives?

We need faster action for the whole community, adults as well as children.”

At the 2006 World Economic Forum, India was applauded for its economic

development. Yet, little is being said about deaths of more than 60,000 children

due to HIV/AIDS in 2005. There are now 250,000 HIV-positive children under the

age of 15 living in India, yet only 4% of HIV-positive children in India are

receiving any treatment.

“More than two decades after the epidemic emerged, the Indian government still

has no formal plan or guidelines for providing lifesaving antiretroviral (ARV)

therapy to children. India has a large pharmaceutical industry, yet pediatric

ARV medications are not available in government-sponsored treatment centers,”

said Rajvinder Singh Bains of Punjab Human Rights Organization (PHRO). The few

Indian children who are receiving treatment are given broken pieces of adult

medications, which may not be a proper dosage. The World Health Organization

recently issued a report which stated that in Sub Saharan Africa AIDS treatment

is now being provided to 17% of the people who need it. In contrast, only 7% of

the people in India who need this treatment (both adults and children) are

receiving it, according to the report.

‘We call on India to immediately issue pediatric treatment guidelines,” said Dr.

Gupta. “India should also take proactive measures to evaluate the effectiveness

of currently available pediatric AIDS drugs and make them available in all

NACO-operated treatment centers.

“The Ministry of Health must improve the infrastructure needed for pediatric

treatment provide training for health care workers in treating children with

HIV/AIDS,” said Sunil , SHAII contact person in Banglore

In New York, from May 31st to June 2nd, 2006, the United Nations General

Assembly will review the promises made by nations in 2001 in a Declaration of

Commitment on HIV/AIDS, including promises made to children. Governments are

being called to report on progress they have made toward implementing these

promises. India will send high level representatives to this meeting. If India

wants to avoid an embrassment at this meeting, it had better move much faster to

keep its commitments. (END)

Background:

India is a signatory to the United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS

and is going to participate in the UN General Assembly Special Session on

HIV/AIDS (UNGASS) being held June 31 to July 3, 2006. The UN declaration

includes a pledge to develop and implement plans for providing treatment and

care to children with HIV/AIDS.

The Stop HIV/AIDS in India Initiative (SHAII), which represents Indian-Americans

and global advocates working to expand access to essential medicines for people

living with HIV/AIDS, demands that the Indian government fulfill its commitment

before participating in UNGASS. India should immediately issue pediatric

treatment guidelines and also take proactive measures to evaluate the

effectiveness of currently available pediatric AIDS drugs and make them

available in all NACO-operated treatment centers. The development of

India-specific pediatric care guidelines and the provision of pediatric drug

formulations will help NGOs throughout India establish and scale up pediatric

treatment programs. In addition, the Ministry of Health must ensure that India

puts in place adequate infrastructure to support pediatric treatment and has

enough healthcare workers trained in treating children with HIV/AIDS.

NACO is the main agency responsible for coordinating India’s response to

HIV/AIDS. In addition to government support, it receives millions of dollars in

funding and resources from international organizations such as the World Bank,

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB & Malaria, USAID, UNAIDS, UNICEF, ILO, UNDP,

UNESCO, WHO, as well as the Indian Red Cross, corporate and industry groups, and

the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. NACO’s failure to issue pediatric

guidelines and distribute pediatric drugs effectively denies the benefit of

these vast resources to hundreds of thousands of Indian children living with

HIV/AIDS.

Without clear guidelines regarding proper dosages and other aspects of pediatric

treatment, many healthcare workers are hesitant to treat children with HIV/AIDS.

And many nongovernmental organizations are unwilling to treat children without

political and technical leadership from NACO. The few Indian children who are

receiving treatment are given broken pieces of adult medications, which may not

be a proper dosage.

Pediatric drug formulations are available and being used in many of the world’s

poorest countries with considerable success. There are even pediatric versions

of triple combination drugs made by Indian generic manufacturers which have been

available for over a year in the private market. But NACO has not yet evaluated

these drugs for their safety and effectiveness and does not use them in

government treatment centers. Without NACO’s approval, Indian NGOs are unable

to use triple combination drugs that are much more affordable and easier to use.

Lack of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programs adds to

India’s growing pediatric HIV problem. Another 75,000 children became infected

with HIV in 2005. While many African governments are aggressively scaling up

PMTCT programs, India still has no national policy.

Vineeta Gupta

E-mail: <guptahr@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

Ref Dr.Vineeta Gupta's posting on, India neglecting children living with

HIV/AIDS

While Dr. Gupta is right that the NACO lndia has no guidelines for pediatric

treatment, its true that no one is there in NACO to respond the querries raised

by the civil society organisations.

A couple of months back I had requested Director, NACO to take some stern action

against the irregularities perpetrated at many SACs, describing her the details,

but I never got any response.

Even my letter requesting her clarification on some of the issues to be included

in the regional report I had to submit to UNAIDS PCB remained unanswered. I

extremely surprise on the silence (or negligence) at NACO on such issues of

national/international importance. We have to think seriously as how to save the

thousands of unfortunate children infected/affected with the pandemic.

When thousands of men and women in the remote of rural areas in Rajasthan,

Gujarat, Manipur, Nagaland, Bihar, Jharkhand etc. don't have access to ARV drugs

and care and support and dieing many of them everyday in the ansence of it, who

will care for these unfortunate children who even don't have any voice?

There are news of closing down SACs offices in the states like M.P.,

Chhatisgarh, Andman & Nicobar etc. and no one is there to respond as why it is

being done?

These and many other issues require wide debates.

regards,

Bhawani

Bhawani Shanker Kusum

NGO Delegate for Asia Pacific, UNAIDS PCB

Secretary & Executive Director

Gram Bharati Samiti (GBS)

Amber Bhawan, Amber 302028, Jaipur, India

Tel./Fax : 91-141-2530719

E-mail: gbsbsk@...

Web: www.gbsjp.org