********************************************************** SAATHII Electronic Newsletter HIV NEWS FROM INDIA Source: The Daily News & Analysis, Press Trust of India, www.ndtv.com, The Economic Times, The Times of India, The Gomantak Times, Posted on: 18/11/2007 COMPILED BY: Randhir Kumar, Jacob Boopalan, and L. Ramakrishnan SAATHII Chennai office. Note: this compilation contains news items about HIV/AIDS published in the Indian media, as well as articles relevant to HIV/AIDS in India published internationally. Articles in this and previous newsletters may also be accessed at http://www.saathii.org/orc/elibrary =============================================================== 1. AIDS patients complain about poor facilities at govt hospitals (Mumbai) The Daily News & Analysis, November 16, 2007. http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1133450 2. NACO to begin the rollout of second-line treatment in India (New Delhi) Press Trust of India, November 17, 2007. http://www.ptinews.com/pti/ptisite.nsf/0/cf8f7805c976bc2865257392003bcb7c?OpenDocument 3. India Inc pitches in with ART (Bhubaneswar) www.ndtv.com, November 17, 2007. http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070032792&ch=11/14/2007%201:10:00%20PM 4. WHO's got its facts wrong? (Haryana) The Economic Times, November 17, 2007. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Guest_Writer/WHOs_got_its_facts_wrong/articleshow/2547038.cms 5. Homeopathy treatment for AIDS under attack in UK (New Delhi) The Times of India, November 17, 2007. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Homeopathy_treatment_for_AIDS_under_attack_in_UK/articleshow/2547354.cms 6. NGO spits fire at Goa State AIDS Control Society (Panaji) The Gomantak Times, November 18, 2007. http://goaindica.rediffiland.com/scripts/xanadu_diary_view.php?postId=1195279622 =============================================================== 1. AIDS patients complain about poor facilities at govt hospitals (Mumbai) The Daily News & Analysis, November 16, 2007. http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1133450 Mumbai: AIDS patients complain about poor facilities at govt hospitals Forced abortions and verbal abuse are a regular feature for HIV positive rural women seeking treatment at local government hospitals, claim a group of afflicted women. The women, mainly from southern states like Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, say they face problems when they seek treatment at local hospitals. "In the entire district of Nalgonda, there is just one Anti-Retroviral Test Centre (ART) AND there is a huge crowd of rural people trying to get their medicines," an HIV positive woman from Andhra Pradesh told reporters here yesterday on the sidelines of a public hearing on AIDS here. "At some of these centres, women are being made to undergo forced abortions even in advanced stages of pregnancy when the national guidelines issued by National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) clearly state that bearing a child should be entirely the mother's choice," she alleged. "I had to undergo an appendicitis operation and preferred to get it done at a private hospital instead of a government one as I was not prepared to answer the many questions being asked by the doctors there," said another HIV positive woman from the south. Apart from this, women also have to face verbal abuse from doctors and para-medical staff at government hospitals, the woman said. "The situation is so bad that some people prefer to die than go through all that," claimed another woman from the same district. According to most of these women, it would be much better if the government provided medical facilities to HIV positive people through ART centres. They also sought better training facilities for nurses and para-medical staff in these centres. National Commission for Women (NCW) member Malini Bhattacharya, who was present at the meeting, said "the government needs to look into these complaints seriously to provide succour to these women". There are around 18 million women living with HIV in the world and in India alone, 38 per cent of the 5.1 million affected by HIV are women, according to recent estimates by UNAIDS. There are nearly 60,000 new infections in India every year. =============================================================== 2. NACO to begin the rollout of second-line treatment in India (New Delhi) Press Trust of India, November 17, 2007. http://www.ptinews.com/pti/ptisite.nsf/0/cf8f7805c976bc2865257392003bcb7c?OpenDocument New Delhi: NACO to begin the rollout of second-line treatment in India As part of its ongoing global campaign to improve access to lifesaving AIDS treatments worldwide, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), which operates free AIDS treatment clinics in India as AHF/India Cares, and a broad-based coalition of other international and Indian civil society partners and HIV/AIDS organizations. This includes Indian Medical Parliamentarians Forum (IMPF), World Vision, Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC), Amnesty International, Positive Lives Foundation � Goa (PLF), Manipur Network of Positive People, Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM), Naz Foundation International � India, as well as other groups. They have joined together in a public appeal to the Honorable Dr. Manmohan Singh, India's Prime Minister, urging him to intercede and help facilitate the rollout of lifesaving second-line antiretroviral AIDS treatments in India. The appeal was delivered in a formal letter of request sent directly to the Prime Minister in New Delhi this week; the appeal will also be shared with Indian civil society in a print advertisement scheduled to run in major Indian newspapers including The Hindu (New Delhi) and the Financial Express (Mumbai), appearing in the Thursday November 15, 2007 editions of the newspapers. The coalition will also host a press conference to unveil the newspaper advertisement calling for second-line AIDS treatment on Tuesday, November 13 at 1:00 P.M. at The Claridges Hotel, New Delhi. The newspaper advertisement, designed in the style of a letter and headlined, "An Open Appeal to Dr. Manmohan Singh" includes the following points and pleas from the group's letter to the Prime Minister: "This is an open appeal to your good office to address the urgent need to rollout second-line anti-retroviral drugs in India. We, the undersigned members of civil society groups take this opportunity to bring to your kind attention the crisis faced by people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) and request you for a time bound action to save valuable lives." "We request your leadership to safeguard the interest and protect the constitutional right to life of the people living with HIV/AIDS." "National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) has provided free first-line anti-retroviral drugs in a number of sites to people who are in need and who otherwise could not have accessed anti-retroviral medicines. However, there is an urgent need for expanded treatment services including second-line anti-retroviral drugs and a vibrant public health action plan." "We appeal to you for your immediate intervention and come to the rescue of thousands of HIV/AIDS infected children, women and men who are facing imminent death due to unavailability of the life saving second-line drugs." As AIDS treatment access has increased in India, Africa and elsewhere in the developing world, the need for access to more effective,and currently more costly, second-line AIDS drug therapies has increased dramatically. And as an increasing number of patients are developing resistance to their initial AIDS drug regimens, the need to switch to more clinically appropriate treatment regimens has become a critical priority. India's media recently reported that NACO-provided first-line treatment is failing up to 50% of HIV/AIDS patients in Delhi, and the number in need of second-line treatment is increasing daily, making access to second-line treatment a necessity, not a luxury. Second-line therapies primarily include the class of drugs known as protease inhibitors. And in India, there is also a compelling need for newer, more effective, once-a-day first-line drugs that result in better adherence and less toxicity among patients. India's National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) recently announced that it has reached a crucial treatment benchmark: NACO is providing first-line ART to slightly more than 100,000 people living with HIV/AIDS at NACO-supported ART centers throughout the country. NACO officials previously announced that 100,000 patients on first-line treatment would serve as a benchmark and trigger NACO to begin the rollout of second-line treatment in India. However, for those patients needing second-line AIDS treatment, NACO does not currently provide any access to such potentially lifesaving AIDS treatments. More than 2.5 million people are currently estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS in India today. "We respectfully request that our Honorable Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, intercede on behalf of thousands of Indians who are now in desperate need of access to lifesaving second-line AIDS treatments," said Chinkholal Thangsing, M.D., Asia Pacific Bureau Chief for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and who is based in New Delhi. "I am pleased that AHF/India Cares has recently been able to provide some patients with access to much-needed second-line treatment; but extremely saddened that the need in India is so much greater than we, or any one NGO care provider, could possibly meet without the intervention from highest order, the Prime Minister's office to help make these drugs available." Last week, AHF/India Cares, which operates free AIDS treatment clinics in India (in Mysore, New Delhi and in Guwahati, Assam in collaboration with NACO). It provide treatment, care and support services to over 5,000 Indian clients, announced that it is now providing lifesaving second-line antiretroviral treatment (ART) free to 30 AIDS activists and clients whose initial, or first-line, AIDS drug regimens have failed them. "We firmly believe that access to medical care and lifesaving AIDS treatment is a basic human right, not a privilege, and as such, are pleading the Honorable Prime Minister to take action to provide second-line antiretroviral treatments throughout India," said Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare Foundation President in a statement from Los Angeles. "I started my first-line ARV medicines in 2001, but after five years, first-line drugs were not working and I was admitted in hospital for a long stay, four months," said Kumar, a Delhi resident who has known he was HIV positive for seven years, and whose CD4 count was zero when he first tested. "According to the doctors, I needed to take second-line treatment to save my life. I came to know about AHF from NACO and at AHF they started me on second-line drugs, within one month I was better already. I would like to give a message to our government that they should pay some attention and increase their involvement in getting second-line treatment to those who need it." "Without access to second-line therapies, I would not be alive today," said Francisco Xavier De Melo, President of Love Life Society�Consortium of People with HIV/AIDS. "I am very lucky, as very few people in India have access to second-line therapy. It is too expensive,but it is a matter of life and death for many of us. Positive people throughout India look urgently to our government leaders to help start delivery of such lifesaving second-line treatments." "AIDS Healthcare Foundation stands in solidarity with the advocates and people of India in urging the government to launch the provision of second-line therapies immediately," said Terri Ford, AHF Director of Global Advocacy. "In our own clinic here in New Delhi, we are trying to save the lives of activists and clients in urgent need of these medications so that they can remain healthy and continue their courageous fight for treatment for all. We know that Treatment Saves Lives and the time is now." About AHF AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the US' largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare, research, prevention and education provider. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 61,000 individuals in 19 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia. Additional information is available at http://www.aidshealth.org About AHF/India Cares AHF/India Cares centers provide testing, psycho-social support services and anti-retroviral treatment including both pediatric and second-line treatment. The facilities provide comprehensive HIV/AIDS care and treatment and holistic services, and serve as one-stop shops for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHAs). In the Asia/Pacific region, AIDS Healthcare Foundation currently provides free anti-retroviral treatment services to people in need through its clinics in India, Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia and China. =============================================================== 3. India Inc pitches in with ART (Bhubaneswar) www.ndtv.com, November 17, 2007. http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070032792&ch=11/14/2007%201:10:00%20PM Bhubaneswar:India Inc pitches in with ART The combat against HIV/AIDS is set to get a fillip with India Inc pitching in with active support in Orissa. The first corporate anti-retro viral therapy (ART) centre in the State will come up at Koraput. The State currently has one ART centre at MKCG Medical, Berhampur which was established by Orissa State AIDS Control Society. Two more are likely to be operational at SCB Medical, Cuttack and VSS Medical at Burla by the end of this year. However, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will facilitate setting up of the first ART centre by corporates in the State, Consultant Health and Programme Manager, CII Dr Rammnik Ahuja said here on Friday. CII has entered into a unique agreement with National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) for setting up more ART centres which would be supported by the corporate houses. As of now, two CII-facilitated centres are running in the country and in the next three years, 10 more would come up, Ahuja said. As per the MoU, NACO will provide the rapid test kits and drugs to patients who come for therapy. However, the ART centres would not be confined to high-prevalent States and can be established wherever necessary. The country is the whole canvass, she added. Project Director of OSACS Parameswar Swain said Koraput ART will serve the KBK region where a large number of industries are coming up. The society, he said, is asking the existing corporates to set up integrated testing and counselling centres (ITCTs) so that their own workforce and locals benefit. =============================================================== 4. WHO's got its facts wrong? (Haryana) The Economic Times, November 17, 2007. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Guest_Writer/WHOs_got_its_facts_wrong/articleshow/2547038.cms Haryana: WHO's got its facts wrong? The World Health Organisation makes great sport of taking the pharmaceutical industry to task for its inability to provide everyone in the developing world with the drugs they need. This so-called market failure is being used at negotiations in Geneva this month to bring research and patents under official control, managed by the WHO � but the WHO has trouble managing itself. Before the WHO pushes on with this agenda, it should have strong evidence but, in fact, it lacks evidence for this and many more of its global recommendations. In the May issue of The Lancet, the world's most prestigious health journal, researchers found that "WHO guidelines do not seem to be closely followed when [the] WHO develops recommendations for member states." The editor of The Lancet told reporters this revelation "is a pretty seismic event ... it undermines the very purpose of [the] WHO." And it's not just the WHO. In June, India released detailed research on its AIDS burden which came to the startling conclusion that the UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) data, also used by the WHO, massively overestimated the true number of cases. The figure was shown to be between two and 3.1 million, not the 5.7 million claimed by UNAIDS. UNAIDS had to accept this new data. Professor James Chin of the University of California at Berkeley had said two months ago that such evidence had long been available: "In recent years UNAIDS has been forced to reduce estimates of...HIV prevalence in many countries..." The most sensitive indicator of broad health trends is infant mortality rates. In September, UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund) released new data showing that "the global rate for the under-five population fell from 20 million annually in 1960 to 9.7 million in 2006." But The Lancet published in the same month an article showing "disappointing results in the reduction of child mortality worldwide." The Lancet concluded: "why should journals trust the research such agencies produce, and why should anyone trust their health policies and initiatives?" Now, the WHO's new draft global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property (IGWG) aims to weaken intellectual property further and to bring research and development under the control of governments and international bodies. It claims there are too few drugs for the "neglected" tropical diseases found in poor countries and that drug prices, and therefore the international patent system, prevent the poor from getting what medicines do exist. In fact, three of these "neglected" diseases are AIDS, TB and malaria. Since 2004, donors have expended an enormous $41.8 billion on them. There are also six tropical diseases, often considered "neglected". These account for 0.3% of all global deaths, and all of these diseases currently have multi-million-dollar research projects underway. As for the alleged barrier of drug prices, numerous studies including the WHO's show that the most important barrier to the poor getting medicines is lack of medical staff and infrastructure to administer the drugs , you can't just hand them out. And the biggest factor in the actual price paid by patients is local regulation, taxes and tariffs in poor countries. So there is plenty of evidence but the WHO is ignoring it. =============================================================== 5. Homeopathy treatment for AIDS under attack in UK (New Delhi) The Times of India, November 17, 2007. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Homeopathy_treatment_for_AIDS_under_attack_in_UK/articleshow/2547354.cms New Delhi:Homeopathy treatment for AIDS under attack in UK One of India's favourite forms of treatment, the 250-year-old system of homeopathy, has once again come under attack from British doctors. The highly respected medical journal 'Lancet' has also slammed the growing popularity of homeopathy in India. The fresh protests were sparked by a proposed seminar on homeopathy's role in the treatment of HIV/AIDS which the European Society of Homeopaths is organising in UK on December 1. Michael Baum, professor emeritus of surgery at the University College London, severely criticized the claim and said, "People say homeopathy can't do any harm but when it is being promoted for HIV, then there is a serious problem." Baum and others had sent a letter last May to all primary care trusts in Britain to voice concern about homeopathy treatment through the National Health Service. In response, some trusts also stopped NHS funding to centres using homeopathy. Baum had written, "It is an implausible treatment for which over a dozen systematic reviews have failed to produce convincing evidence of effectiveness. Several studies have shown that the clinical effects of homeopathic remedies are placebo effects." India, which has been using homeopathy to improve the quality of life of HIV patients, is getting ready to hit back at the report. "We are preparing a strong reply. We can't keep impressing onpeople about homeopathy's benefits. In our studies in Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai, we have found that homeopathy greatly helps HIV patients by improving their nutrition, lowering their anxiety and improving their health. Just because homeopathy is a cheaper alternative to several surgical procedures, surgeons and pharma companies in UK are worried it might cut into their bread and butter," said Dr S P Singh, India's advisor on homeopathy. Dr N K Ganguly, DG (ICMR), also recently said a homoeopathic medicine was found to be effective against HIV/AIDS during screening at National AIDS Research Institute, Pune. "The homeopathy compound screened in vitro at NARI against HIV has been found to effectively kill the virus," Ganguly said. The new attack comes at a time when over 100 million Indians depend solely on this form of therapy. Even in UK, homoeopathy's 2007 market has been estimated to be worth 38 million pounds and is expected to rise to 46 million pounds in 2012. Union health minister A Ramadoss said, "Homeopathy has very good treatment effect for certain diseases which are not amenable to treatment by conventional medicine. It is effective, safe,affordable and simple to administer. It is also cost effective. India has hundreds of proved studies confirming that homeopathy works." A recent survey in seven Indian cities revealed that 48% people believed that homeopathy was safe. In Delhi, 55% of people considered homeopathy as a preferred choice of treatment. =============================================================== 6. NGO spits fire at Goa State AIDS Control Society (Panaji) The Gomantak Times, November 18, 2007. http://goaindica.rediffiland.com/scripts/xanadu_diary_view.php?postId=1195279622 Panaji : NGO spits fire at Goa State AIDS Control Society An NGO, working with people living with HIV/AIDS, has alleged that people living with HIV/ AIDS are feeling discriminated, as very little budget is provided to the drop-in-coping centres (DIC) for people living with HIV/AIDS, even as the money is being wasted in printing unnecessary materials. Demanding the removal of the present Project Director and two Deputy Directors of Goa State AIDS Control Society (GSACS), accusing them of corruption, the NGO,Positive Lives Foundation (PLF- Goa) in a press conference stated that they would submit their charter of demands to the government soon. If the government fails to take action within a month, then we would sit on an indefinite hunger strike, threatened Jaffer Inamdar, Program Manager, PLF. Incidentally, things went sour between GSACS and PLF, when PLF was allotted only Rs 5 lakh for the year 2007-08, to run their DIC, a centre where people living with HIV/AIDS gets together. A fact not denied by Inamdar. We need to receive more funds to help people living with HIV/AIDS, who have greater needs. They need to have access to medicines, nutritional food, educational material to understand HIV/AIDS better, economic and moral support as they are fighting a life threatening illness, said Inamdar. Besides, they have demanded that the state government should make allocation of funds for a new CD4 count machine at South Goa. It issue a discount "Traveling Identity Cards" to all individual without disclosing their identities, ensure free of cost medicines for management of opportunistic infections (OI) to avail at all talukas and ensure women's empowerment program and nutritional and supplement for HIV positive women and children. Squarely blaming GSACS for its lack of commitment towards people living with HIV/AIDS, Inamdar alleged that there is only Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) centre at Goa Medical College which doesn't have adequate sitting arrangement or drinking water facility. Doctors in the OPD's at GMC are rude with a positive person and don't treat them properly, added Inamdar. FUNDS allocated as per NACO norms:Dr Kaur Speaking to GT, an apparently shocked Dr Dilraj Kaur, Director, GSACS refuted all charges made by PLF. She stated, We are doing whatever is possible for people living with HIV/AIDS. We have to spend money as per National AIDS Control Organizations (NACO) guidelines. Funds to be allocated component wise, either to NGOs or to DIC, are first allocated by NACO and re-appropriation between components is not permissible as per NACO guidelines. She stated that whatever funds have been allocated have been strictly in adherence to the guidelines and instructions issued by NACO. At the highest level, the policy makers have allocated more funds for prevention of new HIV infections and spread of awareness (that is through IEC related activities). The allocation of funds for care, support and treatment are calculated based on the number of people infected with HIV and living with AIDS and accordingly the figures are disbursed to GSACS for further allocation of funds to the DIC. It is understandable that since the number of people not infected with HIV is much more than those infected, it is logical that the prevention effort and funds put in to ensure that new infections are prevented, would definitely be much more. Making it clear that she understands the problems of people living with HIV/AIDS, Dr Kaur said that she was the only Project Director to visit the DIC programme run by PLF and interact with HIV positive persons. We have always taken up the issue of HIV positive persons and worked to find a solution to their woes,added Dr Kaur. Sources at GSACS reveal that as per the annual action plan approved by NACO for the year 2007-08, Goa would get Rs 569.91 lakhs. Of this, Rs 315.09 lakhs would be spent to prevent new infection and only Rs 10.66 lakhs would be spend on care, support and treatment. NACO has allotted Rs 10.66 lakhs to run the DIC, which is a sub-component of care, support and treatment. With two NGOs running DIC in Goa , the money is equally divided between them. The above figure is a ceiling beyond which expenditure shouldn't be incurred on any activity,revealed a source at GSACS. Further, there is no allocation of fund for more ART centres or purchase of CD4 or CD8 machines. Sources further reveal that the Project Director has already taken up the matter of CD 4 count machine with the Health Minister and a file has already been put up for procurement of machine from the state government funds. =============================================================== Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in the above articles are those of the respective newspapers, not those of SAATHII.