Manish kumar
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: Banners and advertisements outside private clinics claiming treatment for HIV and diagnostic centres offering HIV testing facilities may attract many visitors.
These claims for treatment of viral disease, however, turn out to be hoax when it comes to following the prescribed norms of National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO). The national body seeks to ensure uniformity in prevention and treatment strategies of the viral disease.
According to experts, private clinics and diagnostic centres have little to offer to people living with HIV. Many working in the field of HIV advocacy and control believe private clinics/diagnostic centres are doing more harm than good in controlling the disease.
Such treatment facilities go against the norms set for regulated HIV testing. NACO prescribes pre and post testing counselling in cases of HIV test done at diagnostic centres, which is non-existent in some private clinics. Consent of patient for HIV testing was not taken by such private hospitals.
The fact has been vindicated by many who have opted for private facilities.
“I was suffering from a kidney stone ailment and the doctor told me to go for surgery for which he asked me to undergo several tests including HIV. However, a pre-counselling was never done in this case. I was surprised when I donated blood recently. The blood bank held a comprehensive couselling over HIV,” said a regular blood donor here.
Experts suggested dependence on trusted ART centres for HIV treatment. Rewati Raman Rahul, a public health expert, said, “ART clinics are most reliable medical centres for HIV treatment. Doctors there are trained by concerned authorities on changed combination of drugs and are well-informed about the latest development in the field,”
An HIV activist said, “Some private clinics use preliminary HIV testing facilities like ELISA, which could yield faulty results. Confirmatory tests are done at government hospitals to get only confirmed cases. The mandatory prophylaxis and treatment norms to prevent transmission of virus from HIV positive women to their children are not being adhered to in private hospitals.”
NACO has issued such guidelines in 2010 to prevent transmission of virus from pregnant women to their children.
The Orissa State AIDS Control Society (OSACS) also affirms that private players have little role in HIV treatment.
Talking to Orissa POST, OSACS additional project director Chandrika Das said, “I advise people living with HIV to consult trusted ART centres at government hospitals. Counselling and other services are available at government hospitals through blood banks and integrated counselling and testing centres (ICTCs) which have reliable testing and counselling systems for the needy.”
Such claims have been vindicated by some state AIDS societies. According to a study conducted by Delhi state AIDS control society in 2014, private hospitals and nursing homes were violating the NACO norms.
The study said, “Private hospitals declare an individual as HIV positive on the basis of a single HIV rapid antibody test, whereas the National ICTC guidelines recommend a series of rapid antibody HIV tests to declare a person HIV infected.”