Calling on the Indian government to improve access to HIV treatment

New Delhi: World Vision India and the Lawyers' Collective are calling for an urgent intervention with respect to the difficulties people living with HIV and AIDS (PLHIV) face in accessing life-saving Antiretroviral Therapy drugs (ART) in the country. 

 

As a recent consultation meeting, the two organizations focussed on spreading awareness about access to drugs as well as diagnostics for (PLHIV), building a public support base towards resolving this issue as well as urging decision makers to pass the HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Bill 2014.

 

PLHIV representatives from different states discussed the poor access of the drugs as well as supplemental testing kits, and jointly raised a serious concern that the current situation needs to be addressed to ensure the health and survival of HIV-infected patients.

 

"Over 8.5 lakh Indians depend on ART drugs to lead a relatively healthy life. Once a patient starts the therapy, medicine needs to be taken daily with proper adherence, or else the drugs quickly lose their effectiveness. Once this happens, PLHIV have to switch to a second line of treatment which is five-times more expensive than first-line drugs, adding an additional burden on our health care system. There is a critical need to resolve this problem, as it is at the crux of ensuring a better life for PLHIV as well as in containing the spread of this deadly disease," said Daisy David, Advocacy Officer, World Vision India.

 

While the access to drugs is a major area of concern, the long-pending HIV Bill is yet to be passed by the Indian Parliament. The Bill was drafted in 2006, and aims to protect the rights of people infected and affected by HIV, and provides for protection of HIV-positive people and their family members from stigma and discrimination. However, the Bill's current draft does not ensure obligation on the part of the government to provide free and complete treatment for those affected by the virus.

 

"HIV has long gone past being a medical problem and is now an issue that cuts across social, economic, psychological, medical, and human rights parameters. While the HIV bills aims to provide protection against human rights violations and recently achieved the milestone of being tabled in the Rajya Sabha, it has a long way to go before being passed as law. Moreover, it does not guarantee access to ART drugs and implies that it does not require the government to provide ART and other medicines to people living with HIV, free of cost - a major setback to the people living with HIV in the country," said Anand Grover, Lawyer's Collective. 

 

The UN estimates that India currently has the third largest population of people living with HIV in the world, with around 2.1 million Indians affected by the disease. The country currently provides ART drugs to millions of PLHIV across the world, including 90% of those in sub-Saharan Africa, despite a lack of available drugs for Indians suffering from HIV.