ART access increased, efforts needed for universal access

New Delhi, Apr 17 (UNI) Despite increase in access to antiretroviral therapy for advanced HIV infection in the low and middle income countries, a lot of efforts are required to scale up services to reduce mother to child transmission of HIV, providing treatment to Intravenous Drug users to achieve the ''universal access to comprehensive prevention programmes, treatment, care and support'' for HIV by 2010, according to a report on HIV/AIDS released globally today.

The report 'Towards Universal Access: scaling up priority HIV/AIDS interventions in the health sector', published by the World Health Organisation, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and UNICEF revealed that more than two million people, living with HIV/AIDS were receiving treatment in December 2006 over the 1.3 million people on treatment one year ago.

Just 11 per cent of HIV positive pregnant women in need of antiretrovirals to prevent mother to child transmissino of HIV in low and middle income countries are receiving them. The global coverage of HIV testing and counselling remains unsatisfactorily low, as does coverage of prevention and treatment interventions for injecting drug users, the report pointed out and lamented that though countries committed themselves to setting targets for universal access by the end of 2006, only 90 have provided data on these.

Releasing the report, National AIDS Control Programme Director General Sujatha Rao said that the National AIDS Control Programme Phase III launched this month focuses on the prevention by especially targeting high risk groups, upscaling testing for HIV/AIDS and providing more treatment care and support facilities to HIV/AIDS infected persons.

Admitting that the number of persons being tested for HIV/AIDS in India was very less, she said that under NACP III the target was to test 25 million people in the next five years. Till now about 8.8 million Indians have been treated for HIV/AIDS since the inclusion of the testing as a component of the AIDS Control programme in 2000.

She said that the people getting Antiretroviral treatment in the country has gone up to 67,000 but it would be increased further to one lakh. She said that that 127 ART Centres have been established and 65 more would be established soon so that the number of people getting the first line drug to fight HIV/AIDS could be increased further.

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