Lack of AIDS Medicines Kills Hundreds in India's Northeast

Lack of medicine and proper health care facilities are leading to the death of hundreds of HIV-infected people in India's northeast region, experts and patients said last week. "Antiretroviral drugs required for treatment of HIV/AIDS are either not immediately available or in most cases unaffordable due to high costs," said Banta Singh, president of Manipur Network of Positive People. Formed in 1997, the self-help group has some 200 members, all of whom are affected by HIV/AIDS. "Unless AIDS is declared a national problem and free medicines supplied by the government, the plight of people in thousands infected with HIV could turn from bad to worst," Singh warned. An HIV patient has to spend 2,800 rupees to 8,000 rupees ($57 to $160) a month for AIDS drugs, depending on the combination used. According to various estimates, there could be up to 100,000 HIV-positive people in the seven states of India's northeast. The high incidence has been attributed to the high rate of intravenous drug use among the local people: More than 200,000 intravenous drug users live in the region, which borders the heroin-producing "Golden Triangle" of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

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