Anjana.Gupta's blog

The realities of HIV depend on geography. We can't treat our way out of this epidemic. It's been a bad few months for HIV prevention. We've learned that our best candidates for vaccines and virus-killing microbicides don't work. Now we're ­clutching at another straw: maybe we can treat our way out of the HIV epidemic. At an HIV research meeting this week, boffins from the World Health Organisation revived a mathematical model that shows that if we test everyone in Africa for HIV once a year and give everyone who tests positive expensive drugs right away and for the rest of their lives, we'll wipe out new HIV infections within seven years. That's because HIV is passed on most easily when there's lots of virus in the infected person's blood and body fluids. Antiretroviral medicines cut the "viral load" (the amount of virus in the body), so they make it more difficult to pass on HIV. Ergo, more treatment means fewer new infections.

EU to probe pharma over “false pandemic”
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is to hold an emergency debate and inquiry this month into the “influence” exerted by drugmakers on the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) global H1N1 flu campaign.
The text of the resolution approved by the Assembly calling for the debate and inquiry states that: “in order to promote their patented drugs and vaccines against flu, pharmaceutical companies influenced scientists and official agencies responsible for public health standards to alarm governments worldwide and make them squander tight health resources for inefficient vaccine strategies, and needlessly expose millions of healthy people to the risk of an unknown amount of side-effects of insufficiently tested vaccines.”

"No Tally of the Anguish", from Human Rights Watch, this 150-page report documents repeated failures both in providing health care to pregnant women in Uttar Pradesh state in northern India and in taking steps to identify and address gaps in care. Uttar Pradesh has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in India, but government surveys show it is not alone in struggling with these problems, including a failure even to record how many women are dying. http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/10/08/no-tally-anguish

I thank you for the email message about the Taking the Pulse of India's Health. It is highly invigorating to read of this campaign to increase the participation of Indians in matters relating to health. It is good to see the beginning of a health-consumer consciousness, and that there is a national consultation underway to find out what consumers want from their health services, be it public or private. Some months, when myself or members of family have illness, a substantial percentage of my income is spent on health remedies. Some years, this has added up to a considerable amount. However, I have not ever had clear information or choice on either treatment nor options. If the remedies I'm told to buy are real or counterfit, or are even appropriate, I never know. I am not informed about what other resources are available somewhere that may help. When I ask a question I am looked at as if I am a miscreant troublemaker. Even though I pay for most services and treatments, I am not seen as a 'valued client'. "Take it or leave it" is what the health service appears to always say.

This campaign to consult with millions of Indians on what are their health concerns is a stride ahead. If we can begin to see ourselves as consumers, some people will then begin to develop health consumer protection and information groups. As consumers, we can demand better quality goods and services, and have rights to do so.