Indian government faces court battle over antiretrovirals
BMJ 2003; 327 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.327.7411.360-c (Published 14 August 2003) Cite this as: BMJ 2003;327:360All rapid responses
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Dear Editor,
It is unfortunate that a non-governmental organisation has dragged
the Indian Government to Supreme Court on the issue of antiretroviral
drugs. With limited resources and trained personnel, priorities of Indian
government should be focussed at cost effective programmes to decrease
spread of the disease. By examining where public health initiatives went
wrong in Africa [1] prevention should be given priority over
antiretroviral treatment. NGOs, instead of troubling the government by
unnecessary and prolonged legal battle, can help the AIDS/HIV control
programme by
1) Increasing the AIDS awareness, especially in low socio- economic sector
and popularising the preventive measures.
2) Training the Health Care Workers.
3) Developing a database to provide the statistics of this problem,
because reliable figures are yet not available.
Reference.
1.Tackling India's HIV epidemic: lessons from Africa
Malcolm Potts and Julia Walsh
BMJ 2003; 326: 1389-1392.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Dear Sir,
The news item regarding an NGO taking the Indian Government to court
for not providing free antiretroviral drugs to HIV/AIDS patients is
disturbing. It shows a lack of perception of the difficulties the
government is facing in providing healthcare to the people of India.
Limitation in resources, lack of infrastructure and awareness are plaguing
the country. The need of the hour is to improve awareness about HIV and
put in place preventive programmes. The government is doing it, albeit
with limited success. NGOs should complement the government's work and
fill in where the government's programmes are deficient. It would be
unfair to bog the government down in litigation and make it spend its
scarce resources of time and money on fighting a legal battle.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
HIV/AIDS Cases attending Hospital ,are not getting proper
attention/care/treatment.Doctors trained on HIV/AIDS are not yet able to
get rid of phobia of getting infection.NACO shold take active steps in
this regard.only theoritical
intervention will not improve the present situation in near
future.Availabilty of anti retrovial drug must make avalable to all the
hospital in india along with other drugs for OPIs through the all state
AIDS Control Society
of India.NGO must be involve in this critical matter to get
actual benefit to HIV/AIDS cases.
Competing interests:
HIV/AIDS Management and
Treatment
Competing interests: No competing interests
Re: Inappropriate Legal Action by NGOs
Dear Sir,
I would say that pulling the governent of India to the courts at this
stage by the NGO is rather unreasonable. What is the point in giving 'free
treatment' when the medical science cannot guarantee a foolproof treatment
regimen or an ideal drug for the elimination of the virus that causes the
disease?
The best way to tackle the AIDS menace at this juncture in a
country like India is to educate the masses properly to prevent the spread
of the disease. Ironically, an AIDS patient who is 'deemed to be cured'
will still carry the virus and being sexually active, will transmit the
disease to more persons! I'd say that the attitude of the government in
this case is correct.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests