Karnataka government has initiated the new AIDS therapy at the Lady Curzon & Bowring hospital, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health and Vani Vilas Women & Children's Hospital which are attached to the Bangalore Medical College.

The three government run medical care institutions will offer free anti retroviral therapy to increase the life-span of HIV/AIDS patients. The programme initiated by international funded agencies is being implemented through the government of India and the Karnataka government. It aims to cater to one-lakh AIDS cases in 2004 and 15 to 20 per cent of the new cases for five years.

In Karnataka, the department of medicine of Bangalore Medical College has helped the three hospitals to start off the programme. Under the therapy, fixed dose combinations of three anti retroviral drugs will be provided free of cost to three categories of patients who include women registered under the ongoing 'Prevention of parent and child transmission (PPCT) programme. The second category of patients are the children, under age of 15 years. The third category will cover the full-blown AIDS patients admitted to the hospital. The drugs are Zidovudine/Lamivudine and Stavudine/Lamvidine along with Nevirapine and Efavirenz is a twice daily therapy. The programme also calls for the need to have regular consultation with the doctors. The main objective of the programme is to tackle the attitude for treatment by the patients and their families which is still a major hassle in the country, said sources from the Karnataka Network of Positive People.

This is a part of the nationwide programme started on a pilot basis in eight selected institutions in the seven states (Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland) in the country which are know to have a high prevalence of AIDS/HIV and the government hospitals in Bangalore are roped in for the programme.
The present life-long treatment plan is only offered to poor patients who cannot afford to pay for the drugs which are priced between Rs. 1,200 to Rs. 1,500. Based on the experience at the three government hospitals in Karnataka, the programme is likely to be extended to other hospitals in the state, informed Vandana Guranani, project director, Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society. "All the doctors in the State had already been provided for the training. Drugs have also been provided to the hospitals.

At the three government Hospitals, Smaraksha a non governmental organization has partnered the implementation of the programme to ensure that patients follow the course of drugs.