Parts of T.N. face shortage of HIV test kits; mechanism sought to address issue

The Hindu

06-05-2025

As in previous years, some parts of Tamil Nadu are yet again facing a shortage of HIV test kits.
Over the past few months, government doctors and health staff have been raising concerns over the non-availability of adequate test kits.
Sources said that while there were supply disruptions from the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), Tamil Nadu, despite past experience, failed to put in place a mechanism to address the issue.
Focused testing
'The primary objective is focused testing of high-risk groups and antenatal women. The ultimate goal is to screen the general population for HIV and sexually transmitted infections. So, we can meet the testing needs of high-risk groups through NACO's supply; and the State Health Department, along with Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TANSACS), should put in place a mechanism to ensure availability of kits for the general population,' an official source said.
With an adult HIV/AIDS prevalence of 0.20% (among people aged 15 to 49), Tamil Nadu needs to have some guidelines or a mechanism in place to address this issue, instead of instructing districts to manage it through local purchases that could raise quality concerns, another source said.
A health staff in a western district said they were told to use the available test kits only for high-risk groups. A doctor in a northern district said pregnant women were mandatorily tested for HIV/AIDS at Primary Health Centres (PHC), and their spouses were also tested for HIV/AIDS and venereal diseases along with blood grouping.
'Now, due to a shortage of kits, tests are done only for pregnant women in PHCs, and their spouses are referred to the government hospitals. We were told that oral instructions had been issued to the chief medical officers of the GHs to procure the required kits using the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme funds or make local purchases due to the shortage of kits,' he said.
Doctors said the available kits were being used only for antenatal women and high-risk groups, and government hospitals and government medical college hospitals had been told to procure kits on their own for screening before surgeries.
Another government doctor said the District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit provided dual-test kits for screening antenatal women.
'The most affected are government hospitals and government medical college hospitals. The reason is we screen patients who are taken up for general and orthopaedic surgeries. Now, if hospital administrators do not get kits through CMCHIS funds, surgeries could be performed without screening, thereby putting the surgical team at risk. This shortage surfaces now and then, and some hospitals have already spent a significant amount from the CMCHIS fund to procure kits to screen spouses of pregnant women and those undergoing surgeries. In fact, contact tracing (of those who test positive) has been left in the lurch for almost six months in some places,' he said.
Despite attempts to reach TANSACS officials for comment, there was no response.