The State government in 2013 announced a travel reimbursement scheme for people living with HIV, to make it easier for them to approach the Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) centres for treatment, setting a model for other States to follow. What has happened to the scheme since then is another story.
Although an allocation of Rs. 12.5 crore was made in the 2014 budget, all that the Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society (KSAPS) got was a meagre Rs. 10 lakh to implement the scheme. That exhausted, payment of conveyance (at 80 paise per kilometre) has been stopped from June. This has increased the number of “lost to follow up” (LFU) cases in the State.
According to sources, about 80 cases have dropped out of treatment in many of the 66 ART centres in the State in the last one year, mainly because they cannot afford travelling to the centre, and also losing out on their day’s earnings. This is worrisome as the State is already seeing a rise in new infections.
According to David B., coordinator for Sangama, a human rights NGO working with sexual minorities, even if you consider those who opt out to private practitioners and Ayurvedic treatment, the LFU figures are increasing rapidly in the State.
He alleged that the “atmosphere at ART centres” was also adding to the problem. Sometimes, patients are forced to make frequent visits to the centre either because the drugs are not available or because the laboratory has been closed for the day, another activist said.
Although KSAPS officials do not have a break up of year-wise LFU figures, as many as 5,386 LFU cases have been reported in the last one year, according to a report compiled by the KSAPS. However, 568 of them were brought back to ART centres after outreach by counsellors, the report said.
KSAPS project director S.G. Raveendra said a total of 9,978 LFU cases had been recorded in the State from 1998 till 2015. “Most of them could have dropped out because they would have started on alternative systems of medicine, or stopped treatment totally,” he said.
He added that KSAPS has now submitted a supplementary budget proposal for an additional Rs. 9 crore.
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WHO statement
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than half the people living with HIV are unaware of their status. Those who test, do so late when they have symptoms and their immune systems are already compromised. Only 36 per cent of people living with HIV are on treatment, and less than 30 per cent are able to get to the last point when HIV virus multiplication in their body is suppressed, which is essential to prevent further transmission.
