The district AIDS Prevention and Control Unit has been distributing medicines to HIV positive persons during the lockdown through a mobile-clinic.
The people would receive enough medicines for two to three months through their local link Anti-Retroviral Therapy (link ART) centres, or the nearest Primary Healthcare Centres, officials said.
S. Martin Manivannan, Project Manager, Tiruchi district AIDS Prevention and Control Unit, said a system has been put in place under which drugs would reach the patient as many of them have to travel long distance to acquire them. Prior to the lockdown, the patients would have to travel to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital where the District ART Centre is functioning. Nowadays, through a mobile clinic, the drugs are transported to these Link ART centres.
However, the link ART centres, along with the local PHCs, have become the primary location to ensure regular follow-ups of patients. “At the ART centres, patients are administered drugs, checked for side effects and their body’s response. They are also provided counselling and awareness on prevention of possible infections, all of which used to be done at the GH earlier.”
In Tiruchi district, about 6,000 patients are being given ART drugs regularly. “During the lockdown, we have an additional 200 patients who belong to other states and are stranded in Tiruchi. We ensure they receive their medicines regularly too,” he said.
Tiruchi district has 11 ART centres, the highest number of such centres across the state, which help to facilitate the process, he said. Patients, many of whom do not have the means, do not have to travel long distances even though the drugs are essential. “We are giving new patients the drugs for a month while patients who have been taking them for a relatively long period get medicines for up to three months,” he said.
