PUNE
Following the directions of the Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS), the postgraduate institute—Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital (YCMH) will transfer patients with their Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) to other centres. The decision has been taken considering the high number of HIV patients registered with the ART centre of YCMH, the officials said.
Maharashtra has 74 ART centres and 10 of them are in Pune district. The ART centre at YCMH currently has 6,869 patients, the second-highest load registered in the state. Following this, the MSACS on August 11 asked the YCMH to transfer the patients to nearby ART centres and complete the process by August 31.
Dr Rajendra Wabale, dean of PG-YCMH, said, the process has been initiated to register patients to other ART centres which are closer to their houses.
“The decision is taken considering the inconveniences faced by the patients and avoiding overcrowding at the facility. The YCMH gets patients from Pimpri-Chinchwad areas and other tehsils located near it,” he said.
Under the National AIDS Control Program (NACO) the government has launched free ART Initiative services across the country. All people living with HIV (PLHIV) get ART medicines and comprehensive services from the respective district civil hospital ART centres program supported by the MSACS. “We provide free medicines and lab services to PLHIV patients, and as a result, the number of ART patients is high. Within 24 hours, all essential lab investigation reports are accessible. Around 250 PLHIV are counselled, and other health services are provided at the centre on a daily basis,” Dr Wable said.