[gay_bombay] Free AIDS drugs at J J Hospital

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couretsy aids-india ================   Free AIDS drugs at J J Hospital Three other city hospitals will become part of Central effort Aparna Narayanan Mumbai, June 1: TWO junior doctors, three social workers and five patients cluster around a pink-topped table at J J Hospital. The room, with peeling walls and a leaky tap, is unassuming. The business—an exchange of files, a chest x-ray held to the light— seemingly mundane. But the silver strips of medicine given to the patients represent a benchmark in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Since April 1, patients at J J Hospital and a handful of select centres across the nation have been getting free anti-retroviral therapy—for the first time in India. The drugs are essential to prolong their lives and improve their quality of life. The initiative will eventually be expanded to K E M, Nair and Sion hospitals, according to Alka Gogate, project director of the Mumbai Districts Aids Control Society in Wadala. The society, part of the National AIDS Control Organisation, is responsible for the free anti-retroviral programme launched by the government of India in five states with high HIV prevalence— Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Manipur. While the treatment has been available in Mumbai before April, the cost—Rs 1,602 for a month's supply of one regimen—deterred most patients. One of the patients at J J Hospital said he had purchased anti- retroviral drugs for two years, but only intermittently because the price was prohibitory. ``Sometimes I did without medicines for two to three months,'' said a 34-year-old man from Bhiwandi, declining to be named. He added he then suffered from high fevers and weakness. Now Dr Alka Despande, chief of medicine at J J Hospital, describes the programme as ``very significant''. ``Being a doctor, it was unbearable to see my patients suffer without a treatment,'' she says. Approximately 65 patients have started receiving free anti- retroviral therapy at J J Hospital since April 1. Another 500 are on the waiting list. Expanding the programme to include more patients takes time because the use of anti-retrovirals requires extremely strict monitoring of each individual. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Group Site: http://www.gaybombay.info ========================== NEW CLASSIFIEDS SECTION SEEKING FRIENDS? VISIT www.gaybombay.info click on classified section and type your message in the post section once the link opens What's hot? What's not? Where are the LGBT parties being held and when? Click here!! http://calendar.yahoo.com/YYY,04497/srt,0/gaybombaygroup/?v=42&POS= Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gay_bombay/   To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]   Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.