The sum is always greater than its parts. "TB and HIV programmes may feel like orphans by themselves. But if two orphans are together they become like two brothers. If these two national programmes utilize each other's assets and minimize liabilities, scale up collaborative activities, and work together where scientific and public health rationale is evident, it will yield greater dividends. There are some ART centres where healthcare workers are overworked due to high patient load, but other centres are underutilized with hardly 100-200 patients. We are not fully and optimally utilizing their services. Likewise, there are several opportunities for joining forces with vertical disease and development programmes where HIV intersects," said Dr Gilada.
Despite challenges, journey of fighting AIDS gives hope
Dr Ishwar Gilada's clinic has on record several HIV-positive mothers who have given birth to a HIV-negative child over the past decades. That is no small achievement, as Dr Gilada had begun his sincere efforts to prevent parent-to-child transmission of HIV even before the government-backed programme was conceived in the country. "People show their respect and revere us, but all what we could do was because of medicines and progress in science. It is a proud moment for us that we have this generation of boys and girls - all of whom are HIV negative - living life normally," humbly shares Dr Gilada.
But every HIV positive mother is not so lucky. Parent-to-child transmission of HIV is not yet eliminated in India. There are HIV-positive women who come to Dr Gilada's clinic with their children born elsewhere (but diagnosed being HIV positive at his clinic). With proper evidence-based care, "These children are pursuing professional careers in medicine, engineering, management, aviation, event management, and many are also budding AIDS activists. When I look back, I feel proud that we could successfully help in keeping these children alive while they waited for affordable ARTs. In those days (before the launch of free ART by the government in 2004) we faced the struggle of giving them medicines, to keep them alive and help them live a normal life," shares Dr Gilada.
We do not need to wait for magic wand to end AIDS because science has given us evidence-based approaches, tools and programmes that can prevent HIV transmission and help people living with HIV lead a normal healthy life. We need to translate these scientific gains into public health reality on the ground, everywhere. We have no excuse for inaction.
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Shobha Shukla, CNS
(Shobha Shukla is the Managing Editor at CNS. Follow her on Twitter @Shobha1Shukla or @CNS_Health and visit www.citizen-news.org)
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