NOIDA: While the number of HIV-infected patients in Gautam Budh Nagar has reached 459 in 2017 and as many as 10 deaths from AIDS reported in the past five years, the district still lacks an antiretroviral therapy (ART) centre.
Patients who go to neighbouring Ghaziabad for ART treatment say all the sampling facilities are not available there. An ART facility in GB Nagar district hospital in Sector 30 was closed in 2014 after a centre was opened in Ghaziabad's MMG Hospital. ART is an effective treatment of HIV patients which slows down the rate of the virus copying itself, using a combination of several anti-retroviral medicines.
Absence of all sampling facilities and only one designated day in a week for screening at MMG Hospital, patients from GB Nagar often go to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital (LBSH) in Delhi.
"We do not have too many HIV patients in the district and since, Ghaziabad is the nearest district, it was considered that it can cater to the neighbouring districts of Gautam Budh Nagar and Hapur too. In case, the patients feel that the facility in the neighbouring district requires to be enhanced, we will write to the state government through the senior officials about it," said additional chief medical officer Shireesh Jain.
According to India HIV/AIDS Alliance, which is working on two projects, including Wajood and Samarth, to help the LGBT community in NCR fight with the high prevalence of the infection, it has identified as many as 36 people from the community infected with HIV at their own screening centre.
"We have screened as many as 36 HIV patients from our community after which they underwent a test at the integrated counselling and testing centre (ICTC) of the district hospital in Sector 30. However, they require as many as 11 more tests till their ART treatment is prescribed by a doctor," Deepak Kumar, chief manager (UP and NCR), Samarth, told TOI.
"For the crucial CD4 count (test for measuring the CD4 cells in the blood) on which the number of medicines provided under the ART treatment depends, is available at the MMG Hospital once a week. However, patients are not ready to go to Ghaziabad due to the distance, they usually prefer to go to Delhi," he said.
When contacted, Dr JK Tyagi, chief medical superintendent, MMG Hospital, said while the hospital has staff to see around 400 patients, they have around 1,300 patients undergoing treatment at the centre.
"We have written to the state government multiple times to increase the staff strength so that the number of days for examination be increased," he said.
Patients who go to neighbouring Ghaziabad for ART treatment say all the sampling facilities are not available there. An ART facility in GB Nagar district hospital in Sector 30 was closed in 2014 after a centre was opened in Ghaziabad's MMG Hospital. ART is an effective treatment of HIV patients which slows down the rate of the virus copying itself, using a combination of several anti-retroviral medicines.
Absence of all sampling facilities and only one designated day in a week for screening at MMG Hospital, patients from GB Nagar often go to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital (LBSH) in Delhi.
"We do not have too many HIV patients in the district and since, Ghaziabad is the nearest district, it was considered that it can cater to the neighbouring districts of Gautam Budh Nagar and Hapur too. In case, the patients feel that the facility in the neighbouring district requires to be enhanced, we will write to the state government through the senior officials about it," said additional chief medical officer Shireesh Jain.
According to India HIV/AIDS Alliance, which is working on two projects, including Wajood and Samarth, to help the LGBT community in NCR fight with the high prevalence of the infection, it has identified as many as 36 people from the community infected with HIV at their own screening centre.
"We have screened as many as 36 HIV patients from our community after which they underwent a test at the integrated counselling and testing centre (ICTC) of the district hospital in Sector 30. However, they require as many as 11 more tests till their ART treatment is prescribed by a doctor," Deepak Kumar, chief manager (UP and NCR), Samarth, told TOI.
"For the crucial CD4 count (test for measuring the CD4 cells in the blood) on which the number of medicines provided under the ART treatment depends, is available at the MMG Hospital once a week. However, patients are not ready to go to Ghaziabad due to the distance, they usually prefer to go to Delhi," he said.
When contacted, Dr JK Tyagi, chief medical superintendent, MMG Hospital, said while the hospital has staff to see around 400 patients, they have around 1,300 patients undergoing treatment at the centre.
"We have written to the state government multiple times to increase the staff strength so that the number of days for examination be increased," he said.
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