District will get one more ART centre

MYSORE: The district will soon get an additional anti-retroviral treatment (ART) centre, which will ease the burden on the existing two centres, which are over-burdened.
The two ART centres are at Krishna Rajendra Hospital, which was set up in 2008, and Asha Kirana Hospital, started in 2010. The two centres cater to about 14,000 people living with HIV patients in the district.The additional centre, which will come up at JSS Hospital, will relieve pressure on these two centres. About 2,000 people living with HIV are already registered at the hospital, said District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit (DAPCU) officer Dr T Raghukumar.
He added that many patients were seeking treatment at private hospitals secretly by paying money. "There is no counseling in private hospitals and people tend to take drastic steps. We, therefore, appeal patients not to hesitate to visit government hospitals for treatment, which is free, and we ensure to protect their identity," he said. In Mysore, 16,868 people are living with HIV, of which 912 are positive antenatal cases. However, the prevalence has been on the decline over the past few years. This year the prevalence rate is 4 pc as against 5 pc in 2011, 8 pc in 2009 and 11 pc in 2008.
Raghukumar said their biggest challenge was following up on people under ART, especially patients from other districts.
Positive ANC guidelines Positive antenatal guidelines have been revised and this will help authorities working on prevention of AIDS to bring mother-to-child HIV transmission of HIV to zero pc, said Dr T Raghukumar.
As per the new guidelines, HIV positive pregnant women with a CD-4 cell count of 350 plus will be started on anti-retroviral course from their 14th week of pregnancy till they stop breast feeding. Earlier, HIV positive pregnant women with the 350 plus CD-4 count were not on ART, but were only monitored regularly. As a result, the risk of a transfer of infection from mother to child was not completely ruled out, the officer said.
After child birth, tests are conducted four times at different stages till the infant attains 18 months of age to check for HIV.
Red Ribbon clubs
DAPCU, Mysore, has created 27 red ribbon clubs in pre-university and degree colleges in Mysore to educate youngsters. "As nearly 70 pc of infected persons are in the age group of 15 to 45 years, we are aiming to create awareness among students by creating red ribbon clubs in colleges," Dr Raghukumar said. The DAPCU plans to increase the number of clubs this year to create more awareness among public through various activities.