Maharashtra tops list of casualties due to HIV; deaths up 11% in 2018-19

Maharashtra has highest number of people living with HIV

The plea has contended that the Centre, Delhi government and NACO had assured the High Court that there would be no shortage of ARV drugs. file photo

Maharashtra has recorded an 11% jump in deaths due to HIV. From 1,361 deaths in 2017-18, the number has gone up to 1,509 in 2018-19. With this, Maharashtra has toppled Andhra Pradesh, which reported the highest number of deaths last year.

The statistics from the Government of India’s Health Management Information System (HMIS) further show that nearly 94% deaths in 2018-19 were in rural areas. The data for 2019 is till February.

‘Growing data’

Dr. Manish Bamrotiya, national consultant (care, support and treatment), National Aids Control Organisation (NACO), said this is ‘growing data’. “The HMIS numbers don’t mean these deaths occurred during the period. The data is of deaths reported during the period,” Dr. Bamrotiya said. Patients who died earlier and were lost to follow-up are also counted when the death comes to light, he said.

Maharashtra has 2.40 lakh People Living With HIV (PLHIV), the highest as compared to other States. Nearly 20,000 patients in the State are lost to follow-up.

HIV and TB activist Ganesh Acharya said the number is worrisome. “We have moved to a test-and-treat policy since 2017, due to which no time is wasted in starting treatment. We should be moving towards zero deaths,” Mr. Acharya said. Some of the 1,509 deaths could be of patients who have been on treatment for a long time, he said.

Rural care a worry

The statistics also raise a worry about rural health care, he said.

“Access to treatment continues to be a big issue in rural areas. Most patients have to come to district-level hospitals. In urban areas, there is a problem with overloading. Due to the high footfall of patients, quality of counselling also is compromised,” he said.

The HMIS data was compiled by Right to Information activist Chetan Kothari.

Doubts over data

An official from the Maharashtra State Aids Control Society (MSACS), however, raised doubts over the data. “We have raised a query with the HMIS cell about the source and the method of data compilation,” he said, adding the number of deaths will be lower. While MSACS sends its data to NACO, the HMIS data is compiled from hospitals.

Eldred Tellis, director of a patient group called the Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust, said there are many flaws in health systems. “For example, a person on the first line of HIV drugs continues on it for years even as his viral load remains high. There should be promptness in shifting patients to the effective regime.”