According to a latest report published by National Centre for AIDS and STD Control (NCASC), of the total 6,754 HIV persons admitted at various hospitals and ART-centers between 2004 and 2010, only 4,509 persons have been currently receiving ART, which boosts HIV patient´s immunity power. Since 2004, 653 HIV patients have died. [break]
In this same period, almost 500 HIV-infected persons discontinued receiving treatment.
However, NCASC does not know why they stopped receiving treatment. "Perhaps, they lack proper knowledge about the benefits of ART," said Krishna Kumar Rai, Director at NCASC. "Also, some of them are careless or have no easy access to hospitals or ART-centers."
Doctors say those HIV patients who discontinue receiving ART are at a great risk. "If someone discontinues the treatment and resumes it after a gap, the drug may not be useful to him," explained Director Rai. "In such circumstances, he needs multi-drug resistance treatment.”
ART is prescribed to only those HIV patients whose CD-4 cells are below 200. A normal person has around 1,000 CD-4 cells. ART is also prescribed for physically weak and under-weight HIV patients.
"Discontinuation of ART has serious ramifications," Dr Ganesh Rai, Chief of ART section at Kanti Bal Hospital, said. "An HIV patient´s health starts deteriorating after he discontinues the treatment."
According to NCASC report, of the total 31 hospitals or ART-centers tasked with providing ART services, HIV patients have stopped turning up at 16 hospitals.
A maximum of 237 HIV patients admitted at Teku hospital for ART have stopped receiving treatment since 2004. Around 64,000 persons in Nepal are estimated to have been affected by HIV, according to the latest NCASC report. However, of the total estimated number, only 16, 000 HIV patients have been recorded.
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