The national Capital has run out of Viral Load Testing kits, used to test if a person is HIV positive.
Since March this year, testing centres, even at premier hospitals such as Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), have been forced to turn away patients as the kits are not available, the Delhi State AIDS Control Society (DSACS) said.
Tenders floated for the supply of fresh kits “fell through” because of issues with the suppliers, leading to Delhi hospitals running out of this essential item, the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) said
“There was a shortage because the tenders fell through but we are addressing it,” NACO Additional Secretary N.S. Kang said.
Mr. Kang, however, said matters have been sorted and that the supply would resume in the next 10 days.
“The supply of one testing kit will resume this week and the second kit should start coming in the next 10 days,” he said.
In all, Delhi has 98 HIV testing centres, called Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICTC). Earlier, the Delhi Network of Positive Persons (DNP+) had approached the DSACS and the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to resolve the matter, said Paul Lhungdim a patient activist with the DNP+.
“We have written to the DSACS and met the Delhi Chief Minister regarding the same. A break in the supply chain has serious ripple effects on HIV positive persons. If the treatment is interrupted and patients don’t know their viral load, it has long-term consequences on their health,” Mr. Lhungdim said.
While nationally the incidence of HIV among ante natal clinic attendees has declined, in Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Punjab there has been a rise, according to a technical paper in NACO’s HIV Sentinel Surveillance of 2012-13.
Since March, testing centres like Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, AIIMS have run out of kits
