Imphal, June 11: Lack of proper counselling, specially with regard to composition of Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) drugs, their brand names and companies manufacturing them and the recent closure of MACS office have been attributed to the ire and discomfiture of people Living With HIV/AIDS who are entitled to receive free ART medicines from the two ART centres.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior doctor, who has long experience in dealing with PLWHA at JN Hospital informed The Sangai Express of certain flaws in counselling of the PLWHAs and irregular supply of ART drugs from the centres.

The counsellors should deal with PLWHAs in a humane way to ensure that the patients are free from all sorts of psychological barriers while continuing the medication, the doctor who is also associated with the ART centre at JN Hospital said.

PLWHAs at a press conference on June 9 lamented that they were not supplied their ART drugs regularly by the two centres besides confusing them with the names of different companies with different composition of ART drugs.

In April and December 2004, the ART centres were opened at RIMS and JN Hospital respectively.

While the RIMS centre supplies such drug to 300 patients, JN Hospital centre gives the same to 200 patients.

Principal Secretary (Health) Vijay Chhiber had already admitted that there were some disruptions in supplying �life-prolonging� medicines.

Setting the record straight, the senior doctor informed that earlier the ART drugs were supplied directly by WHO but now the same has been distributed through NACO.

In January, there was some shortage of supply of one particular drug that was very common to the patients.

Basically, MACS which has been entrusted to make stop-gap arrangement also could not supply such drugs in time apart from the fact the same office was under lock and key for a long time.

This also led to communication gap between MACS and the ART centres, the doctor said.

Instead of the three composition drug, now the centres are supplying 2+ one drug composition with different brand names to the PLWHAs, he informed, and asserted that the new drug is as effective as the earlier three composition drug and this should be fully convinced to the patients.

Since the one doctor at JN Hospital, who is the overall in-charge of its ART centre is out of station, resulting in disrupting officials procedures in receiving ART drugs at the Hospital, the Hospital authorities on June 9 appointed Dr Priyokumar as officer-in-charge of the centre with immediate effect, source said.

Comment