Acute shortage of HIV medicines at JJ Hospital, say worried patients

MUMBAI: Patients undergoing treatment for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) at Sir Jamshedjee Jeejeebhoy Group of Hospitals (JJ Hospital), Byculla, have complained about an acute shortage of third line antiviral medicines at the hospital. A 45-year-old woman from Kurla, who is on her third-line therapy since August 2017, said the hospital staff made her wait for six hours, after which they gave her medicines that lasted for just five days.

Third-line therapy, also known as salvage therapy, is a combination of drugs — Darunavir, Ritonavir and Raltegravir, given to patients with limited options of anti-hiv drug.the therapy was started at Sir JJ Hospital in 2016. The Anti-retroviral Therapy (ART) centre at Sir JJ Hospital is the only centre in the state which gives out the thirdline drugs.

Around 374 patients across the state take the treatment at the hospital, said an official from Mumbai District Aids Control Society (MDACS), the government body which implements the National AIDS Control Programme.

Another woman from Thane, 55, whose son is on treatment for HIV since 2008, said the doctors on July 26, gave her medicines that lasted only for a week. “It is a complete chaos. Patients have to wait in long queues, and often get into fights,” she said.

Dr Srikala Acharya, head of MDACS, said the company which manufactures Raltegravir had delivered only a part of the consignment, which resulted in the shortage. “We had placed the order in July but it wasn’t delivered on time. The supply is at Bhiwandi warehouse and will be sent to the hospital soon,” she said.