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Supportive environment for AIDS patients called for
By Our Staff Reporter
Speaking at a seminar organised by the Population Council in the Capital to share results from the HIV/STI Prevention and Care Research Programme on in different parts of the country, she said there was an urgent need to create a supportive environment for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) by strengthening workplace policies.
The two-day conference provided an opportunity for the organisers and its partner agencies to share results from nine studies with a diverse audience comprising researchers, NGO activists, advocates, policy-makers, media representatives, doctors and representatives from the UN.
On the first day the researchers presented two training models to improve the quality of HIV prevention and care. A model developed and implemented at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, targeted doctors at secondary level hospitals in South India was also presented and talked about.
According to the presentation, the capsule which comprises an eleven-month-long course, combined distance-learning modules with in-house training at the university and also comprised the development and implementation of a HIV/AIDS care project tailored for each trainee.
This comprehensive training model therefore not only improved knowledge and clinical skills, but also taught applied project management.
"This unique training module has the potential for establishing centres of competent HIV care and creating reference networks of well trained doctors thereby supporting the development of continued HIV prevention and care, said the organisers.
"The seminar is especially important in the light of the new initiative of the Government of India to increase access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and such support systems can be essential components to ensure its success. Further, intensive training can supplement short-term training approaches currently used by the government.''
Another study presented at the seminar was by the Institute for Economic Growth, Delhi, on the current situation of health insurance in India and the limited options of including ART in existing insurance schemes.
It came to the conclusion that adding HIV to the list of critical illnesses under an insurance product could be one option and such an effort can be piloted.
Meanwhile, the National Insurance Corporation has decided to include HIV into the critical illness policy for those who are HIV-negative at the time of buying the insurance.
However, with the HIV epidemic on the rise and more and more people in need of ART, there is a need to advocate with other insurance companies to develop appropriate policies, it was pointed out at the seminar.
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