SHILLONG, Nov 30: A group of AIDS treatment activists under the conglomerate of ‘Fight AIDS Coalition (FAC) – The North East Chapter’ has alleged that there is no action at the local level in Meghalaya in regard to the implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations on testing and treatment for advanced HIV disease (a technical term for AIDS).
“We demand that NACO immediately implement the WHO recommendations. The technical Resource Group has recommended for their implementation but we see no action at the local level in Meghalaya,” the group said.
It said that India loses nearly 60,000 people living with HIV on an annual basis. “Over 3 per cent of people who test HIV+ and are linked to antiretroviral therapy have low CD4 counts (below 200) and are at risk of dying of life threatening infections (cryptococcal meningitis, pneumonia, TB and other severe bacterial infections,” the group added.