Dr Rajeev Bamble, director of PCACS said that the survey was carried out in December last year and was based on statistics and data provided by the Sassoon General Hospital, National AIDS Research Institute, Prayas - NGO and Network of People living with HIV in Maharashtra (NMP+).
PSACS, which has an annual budget of Rs 50 lakh and is funded by the Pune Municipal Corporation to provide counselling and testing services apart from distribution of condoms, has detected 563 patients with HIV from the PMC-run 16 hospitals in 2006-07. Out of these 563 patients, 289 are on the waiting list for anti retroviral treatment (ART).
Meanwhile, PMC has also set up 11 Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICTCs) since October 2006 where, HIV infected pregnant women are administered the tablet nevirapine as one of the tools to prevent the transmission of the disease to the infant. A total of 491 people were detected with HIV at the 11 ICTC centers out of which 120 are still waiting for ART.
At Sassoon General Hospital, Dr A L Kakrani, the former head of the ART centre, said that nearly 5,000 people living with HIV are on anti retroviral therapy in Pune since the last five years. Bamble points out that out of the 2,604 men infected with HIV registered at Sassoon hospital’s ART Centre, 1,220 were on ART while all the 2,320 women registered at the ART centre have been started on their supply of anti retroviral drugs.
Out of 363 male children registered at the ART centre, 164 are on anti retro viral therapy while 93 girls out of 269 registered are receiving anti HIV medication at the Sassoon hospital’s ART centre. A total of 3,299 people living with HIV are on the waiting list at the Sassoon hospital’s ART centre.
Bamble along with his team had conducted counselling and testing programmes at the Yerawada central jail and in 2006-07 had detected 29 convicts infected with HIV. Out of them six convicts had a CD 4 count which was lower than 200 and required anti retroviral treatment, Bamble said.
Meanwhile care, support and prevention of HIV programmes are being carried out by four NGO’s in Budhwar Peth which has a high population of commercial sex workers. While Vanchit Vikas, an NGO, has opted out after working for several years, another NGO John Paul Slum Development Project will now work in the Budhwar Peth and receive funds to the tune of Rs 10 lakh each along with others like Saheli, Kayakalp and Akhil Budhwar Peth Devdaasi Sanghatana.