The Telegraph, Kolkata, reports on a visit by Marc Koska, the inventor of the non-reusable, "auto disable" syringe. AD syringes are designed for a single use. Once the plunger of the syringe is pressed, it locks to prevent reuse and, thus, unauthorised packaging or resale. The technology was developed specifically for use in developing countries where unsafe injection practices are widely reported. The AD cause is strengthened by a 2005 study that found 62% of injections in India unsafe because the syringes were reused.

The non-profit Initiative for Medicines, Access, & Knowledge (IMAK) is fighting to prevent the pharmaceutical company Abbott from patenting the anti-HIV drug lopinavir/ritonavir. Abbott has filed for a patent for the drug before the Indian Patent Office but HIV activists say the claim is mendacious because there is little that is new in the drug.

The healthcare profession needs to pull its socks up. Here are some complaints reported in the AIDS-INDIA egroup:

De-addiction centres in India have been known to hold drug users against their will, beat them and deny them medicines including those that relieve withdrawal symptoms.

Standard practices have been stipulated in all healthcare facilities to prevent contamination from used needles. But they are not being followed. Union Health Minister Kiran Walia who did the rounds of five government hospitals in Delhi - Aruna Asaf Ali, Ambedkar, Lok Nayak, Susrut Trauma Centre and Babu Jagjeevan Ram - was shocked to find that the needle destroyer used to break used needles and prevent their re-use was “defunct”. Walia issued a show-cause notice to the doctor at Lok Nayak Hospital’s ART clinic where she saw used needles strewn around instead of being destroyed. 

When should anti-retroviral treatment (ART) start? According to World Health Organisation guidelines for ‘resource-limited settings’, treatment should start before the CD4 count falls below 200 cells/mm3. ‘Consideration’ should be given to treating patients with a CD4 count below 350.  

People with HIV need extra nutrition to improve their immunity and also to tolerate their medications.  So it's great to hear of any effort to increase people's access to food.