Negative dose for Bangalore's HIV+

[Guest guest]

Negative dose for Bangalore's HIV+

Priyanjana Dutta, CNN-IBN. Posted Friday , September 08, 2006 at

07:55

REELING UNDER SIDE-EFFECTS: A city-based NGO has written to NACO

about the side-effects of HIV drugs.

Bangalore: Karnataka has the fifth largest number of HIV-positive

cases in the country.

The state government has been distributing anti-retro viral drugs

free to the HIV-positive patients since 2004.

However, free doesn't necessarily mean good as many patients found

out.

After nearly one year of taking the medication, several patients

started developing severe side-effects like nausea, dizziness,

headache and high fever.

It was then that Milana, an NGO supported by the ActionAid network

in Bangalore, decided to take matters into their hands.

" We have more than 56 members from our network who take ART from

Bangalore hospital. Initially when they started it was going

smoothly the later 1/1 and half years there are lot of reactions

started developing, " says Project Coordinator, Milana Jyothi Kiran.

Among those affected is 30-year-old Amrita who started her anti-

retro viral treatment nearly one year ago from Bangalore's Bowring

hospital.

" In the beginning when I took ART it was fine. I used to take from

outside. It was fine for six months. My CD-4 went from 14 to 136. It

was Cipla company's Virulane-30. Now from the past seven to eight

months, the company changed to Amcure. After that I started getting

reactions - vomiting, giddiness, fever, stomach swelling, " Amrita

says.

After receiving complaints from Amrita and some others Milana wrote

to the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).

" We started wondering why these reactions so we wrote a letter to

NACO. Then we went into the details then saw why this reaction. The

company brand had been changed from Cipla, Ranbaxy to Amcure drug.

After that we realised these reactions were coming, " says Jyothi

Kiran.

However, NACO still hasn't replied and the state health minister R

Ashok says he's not aware of the problem.

" I don't know but in the world tender we take the lowest bids. Now

we are receiving the oral complains, so now we have to inform the

Central Government, " says Ashok.

Despite the side effects, many people like Amrita have been regular

with their medicines because ART, once started, is a lifelong

medication.

But there are others who just couldn't continue due to the extreme

side-effects.

For those who were given the thin hope of prolonging their immunity,

it's the very medicine that is turning out to be lethal.

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