Karnataka to issue smart cards HIV affected

Gulbarga, May 14 (UNI) The Karnataka Government is thinking of issuing ''smart cards'' to HIV patients in order to help them avail medicine anti-retroviral therapy (ART) centres, run by the government and private hospitals anywhere in the country.

Informing this here, Dr Murugesh Pastapur, an expert treating HIV/AIDS patients in North Karnataka, said that about 23 drugs were available for HIV affected and 16 of them were available in India.

The Doctor who is certified by Centre by Health and HIV/AIDS Research and Training (CHART), India, said that the HIV had become a chronicle manageable illness like Diabetes in the era of Highly Active Anti-retroviral Therapy (HAART).

He explained that incidence of both diabetics and HIV both were increasing. He feared that both might affect the young population significantly affecting the economy.

UNI