Amid protest by HIV patients, health ministry sources say no shortage of ART drugs in states

Sources from the union health ministry said that there is adequate stock nationally for around 95% HIV patients in the country, who are on first and second line ARV (antiretroviral) regimens like tablet TLD (Tenofovir+ Lamivudine+ Dolutegravir) and other ARV regimens.

A group of HIV patients on Tuesday staged a protest in the national capital against the shortage of crucial antiretroviral drugs recommended to control the infection from progressing. The protests were held at the National AIDS Control Organization's Office in Delhi, reported news agency ANI.

HIV patients protest outside the National AIDS Control Organization's office in Delhi, claiming a shortage of antiretroviral drugs. (ANI)

Meanwhile, sources from the union health ministry said that there is adequate stock nationally for around 95% HIV patients in the country, who are on first and second line ARV (antiretroviral) regimens like tablet TLD (Tenofovir+ Lamivudine+ Dolutegravir) and other ARV regimens.

"The mainstay of treatment for more than 85% PLHIV is Tablet TLD (a fixed-dose-combination of three anti-retroviral drugs, namely, Tenofovir (300mg) +Lamivudine(300mg) + Dolutegravir(50mg)], for which there is sufficient stock nationally to last more than three months. Tablet Dolutegravir (DTG)-50mg is required for around 50,000 PLHIV who are either on Alternate-first, second or third-line regimens or those with TB co-infection," a source said.

"No reported stock out for any ARV drugs at the state level and the fresh supply orders for procurement of the next lot of several drugs are already placed. Individual ART (antiretroviral therapy) Centres may have this issue at times, but the medicines are immediately relocated from nearby centres," the official clarified.

Officials also said requests have also been placed to supply the first lot of the drugs at the earliest to ensure the delivery of the medicines before the present stock runs out.

Speaking to ANI, an HIV patient earlier in the day said that they had written to the authorities informing them about the shortage of drugs, but no action was taken on their complaint. The patient also said that the medicines have been out of stock for the last five months and the issue is prevalent not only in Delhi but also in neighbouring states.

“We are protesting because crucial life-saving drugs that are needed for HIV patients are not available for the last 5 months in Delhi & neighbouring states. We wrote to state authorities but to no avail,” they said.

The patient also highlighted that the medicines had been out of stock for some time and the shortage has continued. “The medicines are out of stock, and there is a shortage of such medicines required for HIV patients. If we won't have these medicines, how will be India made HIV-free country.”

Meanwhile, the National Aids Control Organization, a central government agency, is learnt to have initiated a round of discussions following the protest by HIV patients. "After persuasion by NACO and with active cooperation of national networks of persons living with HIV (PLHIV), four representatives of the protestors had a round of discussion with senior officers of NACO today afternoon," ANI cited sources as saying.

The sources further said that protesters have been informed about the position regarding drug availability during the discussions. “They were informed about the position regarding drugs availability and they were told to jointly work with state AIDS control societies and NACO for the availability of drugs at those few centres which were running short on supplies, temporarily”.

India is one of the very few countries that provide free antiretroviral medicines for lifelong treatment of HIV patients, under its National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), which is fully funded by the government. The NACO centrally procures ARV medicines for PLHIV as per national guidelines.