New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up the Union Health Ministry for failing to achieve the target to provide Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) to 1 lakh HIV positive patients by the end of 2005.

Not satisfied with the statement that the Government would be able to achieve the target only by the end of 2007, a Bench, comprising Chief Justice Y. K. Sabharwal, Justices C.K. Thakker and P.K. Balasubramkanyan sought an explanation from the Ministry in two weeks, giving reasons for the failure. The petitioners were directed to give their suggestions in two weeks.

The Bench was hearing a batch of petitions filed by the Voluntary Health Association of Punjab and others, seeking a direction to the Centre and the States to provide the AIDS victims the right to receive treatment under the public health system.

The petitioners contended that in the last few years, with the development of a new class of drugs, called Anti Retroviral drugs, AIDS had ceased to be a dreadful fatal disease. They said that treatment by the life saving drugs was not being included by the Union Government as part of the public health system, which catered to the needs of poor people.

In response to the court direction, the Centre filed a status report, stating that with effect from April 1, 2004, free ART treatment was being provided to the HIV positive patients.

Programme in 8 GHs

The report said the programme was launched in eight government hospitals in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Manipur, Nagaland and National Capital Territory of Delhi.

At present, 54 National Aids Control Organisation centres were providing free ART. In addition, Kerala, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir were supporting nine centres.

The Railways, ESI, SAIL and armed forces were also providing free ART to their employees. A total of 36,110 patients were receiving free ART at NACO ART centres as on July 31, it said.

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