Hyderabad: Ninth national convention of INN

February 24, 2006

Staying alive during wait for ARVs is now even more critical

Hyderabad | February 23, 2006 9:35:31 AM IST

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the joint United Nations

Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) announcement last year that

the '3by5' initiative is ''unlikely'' to be achieved by the end of

2005, places greater urgency on the need to scale up access to other

comprehensive healthcare options that could help people with HIV

stay alive while they wait for antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.

Addressing a press conference here yesterday in connection with the

three-day ninth national convention of INN beginning today, Dr

Radium Bhattacharya, President of Indian Network of NGOs on AIDS

(INN) said '3by5'initiative had promised to provide ARV to 3,55,000

people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHAs) in India by end of 2005, whereas

NACO's free-ARV roll-out programme could barely manage to reach

15,000 PLHAs.

''We need to keep PLHAs alive by all possible means till expanded

access to ARV reaches them. Along with ARV expansion it is vital to

strengthen and expand comprehensive care and support services for

people living with HIV, and help them stay alive longer'' she said.

Most of the deaths caused by HIV/AIDS are attributed to preventable

treatable causes like those of TB, diarrhoea, malnutrition or

hunger. ''It is high time we make multisectoral AIDS response on

prevention, treatment, care and support a reality in India to help

control the pandemic, she added.

The 3by5 disappointment indicated that where large unmet ARV needs

persist, a broad package of other readily-available treatment and

care options should be urgently provided to keep PLHAs alive while

they wait for ARV programmes to deliver on their promise.

India for instance, is one of the 22 countries home to over 80 per

cent of the world's tuberculosis (TB) cases. While striving to meet

ARV needs, care services should also provide prevention and

treatment of the HIV-associated opportunistic infections (OIs), such

as tuberculosis (TB), which HIV-positive people in India are

especially susceptible to.

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