A Finger Prick Reveals HIV
Posted on July 3, 2008 in Current Affairs by Danteshwari
A finger prick will reveal whether an Indian is suffering from HIV. Having plans to test 22 million Indians every year from 2012 to find out whether they are suffering from HIV, the National AIDS Control Organisation (Naco) is trying out trials of a new rapid testing technology. The HIV status will be known within 20 minutes. It will also do away with red blood cells and separate serum to test HIV.
The Whole Blood Fingerprick Testing Technology (WBFTT), which has been successfully implemented in Africa by increasing the number of people being tested for HIV positive, is being used at Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres. These centres are located in 10 districts of the four states- Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The idea is to gauge the effectiveness of the technology in ensuring the correct results.
After a three month trial period of the technology, Naco will take a final decision whether to have WBFTT in its programme for national aids control along with the present Serum HIV antibody rapid test.
Naco director –general K Sujatha Rao claims that once the WBFTT is successful in the national programme then it will be easy to carry out HIV testing. Even the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANMS) who visit families in the backward regions of the country can conduct these tests on consent.
The ICTC began in 1997 and as of now the country has 4,500 such centers. The ICTC are manned by a laboratory technician and trained counselor. The HIV counseling as well as testing services are available free of cost and the results are kept in confidence.
According to The ICTC expert Dr. Suresh K Mohammed, out of 2.5 million people suffering from HIV/AIDS in India, only about 25-30% are familiar with their HIV status.
Dr. Denis Broun Head of UNAIDS (India) feels that rapid HIV tests will enable the patient to get the pre-test and post-test counseling, test results and medical referrals done all in one visit.
Earlier in India, the ELISA (enzyme immunoassay) was used as the standard screening test for HIV. Now it is confined to bigger hospitals.
Source TOI July 3rd , 2008
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