India to provide second-line HIV drugs free to HIV patients

HIV :: India to provide second-line HIV drugs free to HIV patients

Indian government committed to providing second-line drugs free of cost to people who develop resistance to the existing treatment for HIV /AIDS.

"As soon as we are able to provide Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) to 100,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country, we will introduce second-line drugs," National AIDS Control Organisation Director General Sujatha Rao told reporters in New Delhi.

At the moment, government is providing free ART drugs to 65,000 people living with HIV/AIDS from its 127 treatment sites, which they plan to increase to 250 by 2009.

"It has been a conscious decision to provide first-line treatment to the positive people first, which is affordable and cheaper to provide. The second-line treatment needs more investment and infrastructure," Rao said at the launch of the WHO/UNAIDS/UNICEF joint report on the latest AIDS treatment figures and the health sector's response to the HIV epidemic.

Sujatha Rao said their main focus is now on prevention and care. There are 5.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the country.