AIDS patients suffer due to supply shortage in WB

Kolkata, Jun 30 (UNI) Thousands of AIDS patients in West Bengal are suffering due to disruptions in supply of anti-retro viral drugs by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).

These drugs are procured and supplied by NACO but there has been frequent disruptions in their services since February.

State Health department special secretary R S Shukla, who is also the Director of West Bengal State HIV AIDS Society today said, ''We are trying to regularise the supply. Now we have made temporary arrangements.'' The society has borrowed drugs from Lucknow, Nagaland, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh to cope up with the crisis.

''We have asked NACO about the crisis but supplies continued to be disrupted. The medicines did not reach us on time and we were compelled to borrow about 10,000 tablets in a single consignment to tide over the crisis. Now even those stocks are exhausted,'' health department officials said.

Health department sources said here that certain medicines, essential for the disease, like Efivarenz, Stavudin and Lamuvudin were not available.

The officials said the unique feature of the medicine is such that it cannot be discontinued even for a single day.

The problem started in February when 100 patients were asked to buy drugs from private sector companies and stocks were finished.

AIDS patients are provided free medicine under the ART programme in the state for last one year and presently covers over 1000 patients at the School of Tropical Medicines.

However, the School of Tropical Medicines is not enrolling new patients for this programme as those already undergoing the treatment have been provided with only two weeks' medicines. Usually an AIDS patient is given a month's stock in advance.

UNI JYN SP RN1406