What efforts are being made to include access to ART drugs among the more marginalised groups?
From the one million AIDS patients we have identified, 35% are under ART treatment. The other 65% do not need it. A patient has to satisfy certain clinical conditions before he is put on drugs. ART drugs for a month are presently available for Rs 550. We have to beat down the prices even further. If you include the expense of the CD-4 count test that has to be done twice a year, the cost works out to Rs 7,600 per year, per patient. If you buy ART drugs in bulk, it can be slightly cheaper.It has been reported by some State AIDS Control Societies that non-availability of paediatric formulations of ART drugs results in inexact dosage. For the National AIDS Control Programme-3, we plan to hold discussions with pharmaceutical companies and see if such formulations can be made. CIPLA has already introduced these paediatric formulations in the market. Are you planning to install condom vending machines for female condoms? We have already sanctioned a Rs 4 crore pilot project on female condoms
