Two initiatives will boost viral load testing for HIV patients in the coming days. The government has tied up with a private laboratory to widen the implementation of the test, and is also procuring 80 new viral load testing machines that will be put up in several government hospitals by April.
Of these, three machines will come to JJ, KEM and Kasturba hospitals.
Important tool
The viral load test measures the amount of HIV in blood and is extremely essential to determine the effectiveness of the anti-retroviral treatment (ART). At present, the government tests approximately 20,000 patients for viral load annually.
Now, implementation of the test has been expanded from February 8. It will now reach 2.1 lakh patients in the first phase. “In the first phase, priority will be given to children below the age of five, and pregnant women,” said Naresh Goel, deputy director general of the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO).
The government estimates that there are 12 lakh HIV patients on ART, of which approximately 30,000 are on second-line treatment and 750 on the third line. The public-private partnership with Metropolis Healthcare will make viral load testing available at 525 ART centres across the country.
Few centres
Till now, since the viral load test was available only in 10 centres across the country, the referral for the test was done very cautiously. For instance, only suspected patients who were not responding to treatment or patients whose CD4 cell (white blood cells attacked by HIV) count continued to dip were referred for the test.
The centres also have to process a heavy load of samples. For example, the only centre in Mumbai at Kasturba Hospital gets samples from Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat. HIV activists and patients have for long been demanding routine viral load testing for all patients.
Cold storage
Nilesh Shah, president and chief (science and innovation), Metropolis Healthcare, said, “Samples collected from across the country will be transported in a cold chain and processed at the Vidyavihar branch of Metropolis. The samples will be stored in -70 degrees celsius temperature for a year in case re-testing is required for any reason.”
Expanding the viral load test would also mean that the number of patients requiring second-line treatment will go up. Dr. Goel said they are in the process of increasing the number of second-line treatment centres as well.
