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| India to offer free second-line ARV treatment for HIV, from January 2008 |
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Nearly 2,000 patients are expected to benefit from the free treatment in its first phase |
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India will offer free second-line antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to poor HIV/AIDS patients from January 1, 2008. The free treatment will first be introduced in government hospitals in Mumbai and Chennai and then extended to the rest of the country by April, the country's Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss announced on the occasion of World AIDS Day on December 1.   Nearly 2,000 patients are expected to benefit from the free treatment in its first phase. Second-line or second-generation antiretroviral drugs like Tenofovir, Retanovir or Abacavir are needed by HIV/AIDS patients whose infection has become resistant to first-line antiretrovirals. It is estimated that there are currently around 3,500 such people in India. "Our target to put 1 lakh people on antiretroviral therapy has been achieved. We are now getting ready to provide second-line treatment to those who may have developed resistance to first-line drugs," Ramadoss said. Initially, Tambaran ART Hospital in Chennai and Mumbai's J J Hospital will offer the free second-line ARV therapy to patients who are below the poverty line, the minister added. By April 2008, eight other centres, including Maulana Azad Medical College in Delhi, PGI, Chandigarh, and ART centres in Kolkata, Nagaland and Manipur will also offer the treatment. "At present, we offer first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) to 1.05 lakh patients through 127 centres. We expect that 3%-5% have developed resistance to first-line drugs. Second-line treatment will be free of cost and those availing of ART in NACO (National AIDS Control Organisation) centres, who are below the poverty line, will be eligible," Ramadoss said. UNITAID, an international drug purchasing facility, will donate a two-year supply of the drugs to India. After that NACO will enter into an arrangement with Indian generic pharmaceutical companies for the drugs. While first-line generic drugs currently cost NACO Rs 8,000 per patient per year, second-line ART will cost the government AIDS body the same amount for a month's supply. UNAIDS chief Dennis Broun says: "Second-line treatment is very expensive and requires strict adherence rates. Brazil spends 60% of its national AIDS budget on only 10% of its HIV population." A NACO official raises another concern. "With less than 1% of our population being infected with HIV, we are spending about 80% of our resources on prevention of the disease. However, with second-line drugs like Tenofovir being readily available through private healthcare providers, it raises fears that many HIV patients will become resistant even to second-line treatments." Source: The Asian Age, December 2, 2007
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