New Delhi: The government could achieve its goal of providing free anti-AIDS drugs to one lakh people in the next two months by opening up 48 additional centres across the country.
"In another two months, an additional 48 centres will be opened and treatment extended to cover almost 100,000 patients," Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said on Wednesday evening addressing at the 'Asia Stakeholders Consultation on Confronting HIV as well as tuberculosis and malaria'.
The AIDS treatment was introduced in the national programme two years ago. Currently over 26,000 people were being provided free treatment in over 52 centres, he said.
With most of the HIV infected belonging to very poor families, effective treatment could go a long way in saving the affected families from destitution, he said.
The Minister also added that according to a recent analysis, HIV prevalence had come down by 35 per cent among young adults in two most affected states-Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
This was a result of the government's focus on condom promotion and behaviour changes among the high-risk groups and other bridge population, he said adding the success in these two states would be replicated in other parts of the country as well.
Considering that the youth were particularly vulnerable to the infection, programmes on educating them on the issue were underway in over 150 lakh schools in over 400 districts.
The Minister said that commitment of bilateral agencies and donors to Asia on the front of HIV, TB and malaria was not commensurate with the scale of problem.
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