Tamil Nadu   

World class HIV care facility for Madurai

S. Vijay Kumar

To cater to the needs of patients in southern districts

Supriya Sahu

MADURAI: The Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TANSACS) and Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, U.S., will come together to establish a world-class facility for comprehensive health care management of HIV/AIDS in Madurai.

The TANSACS Project Director, Supriya Sahu, and the CDC representative for South India, Michael Friedman, inspected a few sites for the proposed `Centre for Excellence' here on Friday.

Talking to The Hindu , Ms. Sahu said the centre would provide high-quality diagnostic services, in-patient care and counselling.

Tambaram model

"It will be similar to the Government Hospital for Thoracic Medicine, Tambaram, which is the largest care-provider for HIV/AIDS in south-east Asia. The Centre for Excellence will have a state-of-the-art laboratory and provide Anti Retro-Viral Treatment (ART)."

At least 60 per cent of the 30,000 patients at Tambaram Hospital hail from Tamil Nadu. Namakkal and its adjoining areas remained high-risk districts. "The Madurai facility will cater to the needs of patients in southern districts," she added.

Dr. Michael Freidman said the CDC would offer support for the establishing the infrastructure. "Based on our earlier experience, we hope to be an active partner," he said.

Collector T. Udhayachandran and the Government Rajaji Hospital Dean, S.M. Siva Kumar accompanied the team that visited vacant sites at the GRH, Madurai Medical College and Anna Bus Stand, among other places.

The district administration would send its recommendations to the Government for allotting land, official sources said.

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