Information from NGO sought on five AIDS patients

BHOPAL: The failure of five AIDS patients to turn up at a city-based Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) brought into question the role of NGOs tasked with convincing them to reach the centre. A letter from the ICTC at Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) to the NGO Mahila Chetna Manch has asked for information on five patients who did not turn up after they were detected as HIV positive. The letter comes in the backdrop of Madhya Pradesh State Aids Control Society (MPSACS) project director calling for revisiting contracts with non-performing NGOs. There are about 461 AIDS cases in Bhopal and currently just one of the four Targeted Intervention (TI) NGOs are functional, working with high-risk groups in the city.The BMHRC officials declined to comment on the issue citing procedural norms and its director was not aware of any such letter being sent to the NGO. AIDS nodal officer Bhopal DMO Dr Manoj Verma said, “If HIV positive cases are not handled according to protocol they may pose a risk of infecting the general population.” Medical practitioners and counsellors alike are skeptical of the true situation. “There is a possibility that the same cases are doing the rounds in different ICTCs, inflating the numbers and fulfilling the targets,” said an observer seeking anonymity.Mahila Chetna Manch’s Raghu Raj Singh said, “I am not aware of any such letter.” He clarified that, “They might have been injecting drug users (IDU) cases, which are difficult cases to counsel.”