Orissa state is linked to NICED Kolkata for viral load testing. There is no plan to start a separate viral testing centre in Orissa,” said a reply to an RTI application asking the Centre if it has a plan to start a facility for viral load testing in the state.
Manish Kumar
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: The Centre is not inclined to establish a viral load testing facility in the state. This is bad news for the state, which has recorded 36,617 HIV positive cases and accounts for 9 per cent of the total new HIV infections in the country.
“Orissa state is linked to NICED Kolkata for viral load testing. There is no plan to start a separate viral testing centre in Orissa,” said a reply to an RTI application asking the Centre if it has a plan to start a facility for viral load testing in the state. The reply was routed through the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), New Delhi, which is part of the Union ministry of health and family welfare.
Viral load testing plays a key role for people living with HIV as it helps in determining the levels of HIV in the blood of infected persons. It helps in identifying the main reason behind any symptomatic illness, said experts.
Often people living with HIV are prescribed wrong medicines based on the limited blood reports that are available. Such treatments not only hamper treatment but can also lead to drug resistance.
“People living with HIV in the state have no option but to visit the nearest centre in Kolkata for the test. We have been told that this is a crucial test for
getting right line of treatment. We don’t know why the Centre is not in a mood to help
people from Orissa living with HIV,” Vinamaya Behera (name changed), a HIV positive
person from the state, told
Orissa POST.
Behera said very few people visit Kolkata for such tests and this hampers their overall treatment.
“We recently asked authorities at the Centre about their willingness to establish a testing centre in Orissa but we were told that machines for such tests are very expensive and that’s why they are reluctant to open new centres,” said a veteran activist who is in the known of the negotiations with the Centre.
There are 10 viral load testing centres in the country, which are located in-Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Imphal, Chennai, Varanasi and Kolkata and are managed and monitored by NACO.
