Wednesday, 17 JULY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) centres will soon be established in Almora, Tanakpur, Srinagar and Karnaprayag as per the directives of the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Health minister Dhan Singh Rawat to facilitate the treatment of HIV positive patients, the Health secretary R Rajesh Kumar said. Kumar informed that during his recent inspection of the sub district hospital in Tanakpur, he observed that 50-60 HIV-positive patients from the area had to travel to the ART centre in Haldwani for medication. In response, he took the matter seriously and directed the linkage of ART services with the local hospital. All necessary formalities for this integration have been completed by the department. Once the ART centre is operational in Tanakpur, patients will no longer need to travel to Haldwani for medication, as that will be provided locally, he said. Kumar highlighted that HIV positive patients will receive free medication at the ART centre.
Additionally, he stated that currently, approximately 350 individuals from Chamoli and Pauri districts have to travel to ART centres in Dehradun every month to obtain medication. In light of this situation, he has mandated the establishment and operation of ART centres in the Government Medical College in Srinagar, Pauri district and the sub district hospital in Karnprayag, Chamoli district. Following this directive, ART centres have been successfully set up and are operational in both of these medical facilities. Additionally, an ART centre is set to be established soon in Soban Singh Jeena Medical College in Almora district. He informed that the ART centre in Almora will be enabling approximately 300 individuals to access ART services. Kumar emphasised that with the introduction of these centres, individuals will not suffer financial losses while also experiencing improvements in their health.
