Over one million people in India living with HIV/AIDS are without access to the much-needed anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment, a new international report said today (Sunday, October 03, 2010), suggesting that India should consider issuing compulsory licensing for the increasing availability of drugs.
Indian children suffering from HIV posing for the camera
According to a joint report issued by the World Health Organization, UNAIDS, and UNICEF, said that India, the world’s second most population nation after China, had made progress in scaling up access over the years, but added that given its robust generic drug industry it could have done better.
“India has done well in scaling up access to the ARV therapy over the last seven years,” says a senior WHO official, suggesting there is still a huge gap to address.
The universal gap between those needing urgent ARV treatment for HIV/AIDS the world over and those unable to have any access to it has climbed to over 15 million people and there is an urgent need for funds to the tune of USD$10 billion, says Rifat Atun, a senior official of the Global Fund which is the main provider of assistance to countries afflicted with HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
India now ranks third in “scaling up access”, after South Africa and Kenya during the last five years.
However, it needs to cross some distance for ensuring universal access for all its HIV/AIDS sufferers.
The HIV/AIDS worldwide logo
Around 3,200,074 have received ARV therapy in India at the end of last year as compared to 2,034,581 patients during the previous year. However, between 1.1 and 1.4 million HIV/AIDS patients have no access for ARV therapy in India.
Given the number of health professionals and the state of the art generic drug industry in India, the performance on the HIV/AIDS front could be far better in comparison with other low-income countries in Southern Africa, say analysts.
India must consider issuing compulsory licenses for ensuring free access to second and third-line treatment for HIV/AIDS patients whose number is steadily climbing. Compulsory licensing enables a national government to revoke a license issued to a patent holder and thereby, allow other parties to produce and sell a patented product for non-commercial purposes.
Several industrialized nations resorted to compulsory licensing to enable their national health departments to procure medicines at low prices so as to provide free of cost in government hospitals.
India is yet to issue a compulsory license despite its rising HIV/AIDS patients who now need second and third-line treatment.
In 2006, Thailand issued compulsory license for the production of patented drugs for its HIV-infected population. Later, Brazil also issued compulsory license for the production of patent-drugs produced by an American pharmaceutical company despite enormous pressure from the US.
“Ultimately, the decision to issue a compulsory license depends on the national government,” says Mari Angela Simao, a senior UNAIDS official.
The Church is still very silent on this issue when it is expected to be at the forefront of the problem.
It is time that all the Churches should shun politics and differences and join hands inter-denominationally and come out with innovative strategies and ideas to maximize the awareness among all classes of people. Church should also think of building hospices for the HIV/AIDS infected, apart from schools, dispensaries that are usually started as a social wing. These should be constructed where people can have access and take maximum benefit out of such facilities.
Trevain Raj Kumar
Trevain Raj Kumar a Christian who founded Neolife Mission to cater to the needs of these HIV/AIDS infected/affected people and also runs a Terry’s Kids Home for these victims in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh state. His ministry is run in conjunction with He Intends Victory (www.heintendsvictory.com) which is based in Irvine, California, and is one of the early pioneers of Christians working in the HIV/AIDS field.
Trevain is an Indian by origin and was working in the IT field, when God called him into full time ministry in 2002. He set aside his secular job and in faithfulness towards God’s call he started Neolife Mission.
Many children received help and support through Neo Life Mission and they could make this happen with their self support.
In learning more about this work, I was amazed and touched by the way God is using and working through Trevain’s Neolife Mission. Here is one of those who got blessed by the service of Neo Life Mission.
Sarita today with her Bible
Sarita, an HIV infected lady came to Trevain for counseling and she revealed that her husband had left her after finding out that she had been with HIV. She told him that she “did not want to die” and leave her young children behind. She had severe tuberculosis at the time and the lymph glands on her neck were swollen and one or two had even burst, emitting a foul smell. She was in a hopeless condition with her CD4 count at only 97. [CD4 cells are a type of white blood cell that fights infection. Another name for them is T-helper cells. CD4 cells are made in the spleen, lymph nodes, and thymus gland, which are part of the lymph or infection-fighting system. CD4 cells move throughout your body, helping to identify and destroy germs such as bacteria and viruses. Keeping your CD4 count high can reduce complications of HIV disease and extend your life.)
Trevain told her about Jesus Christ and asked her to accept Him as her own personal savior. Later he encouraged her to follow Christ and taught her how to pray and to put her trust in the Lord. She there and then made her decision to follow Jesus and within three months, she started to gain strength and her TB report showed no traces of the disease.
In fact, she began to put on weight and when she went to the doctor for her CD4 again, and the doctor asked her whether she was taking any special medicine as her health was improving. She said that her only “special medicine was Jesus Christ”. A year after her first test, she went again to test her CD4 count and the doctors were again spellbound since her count raised to an amazing 847.
Sarita was very happy and started attending a local church near her home.
Trevan baptizes Sarita
She then came back to Neolife Mission and requested Trevain to baptize her and he was delighted to do so. Now she is a true believer, her son is studying and is being well supported by Neolife. She recently got a house keeping job in one of India’s prestigious IT centers, Infosys, and is earning a handsome salary.
Sarita’s is just one of many lives that have been transformed and blessed by this caring ministry. You too can join to bring in change.
For more details on Neo Life Mission’s work please visit: www.neolifemission.org
Or if you want to know more about this project or help Neolife Mission please send an e-mail to: trevain@gmail.com
Note: ANS founder, Dan Wooding, has written a moving book called “He Intends Victory” about people living with HIV/AIDS and how Jesus touched them. To get a free copy, go to: http://heintendsvictory.org/products-page