Telugu states with highest HIV infected jubilant over possibilities of cure

Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, October 14

There is a flash of hope among a large number of HIV/AIDS patients in Telugu speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh after the first reported use of the human gene-editing tool to cure the virus.  

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats or commonly called CRISPR uses genetically altered blood cells that resist the AIDS virus.

The two states traditionally report a higher burden of HIV/AIDS when compared with other states.

Since the early 1980s when the virus was first discovered, apart from the North East, the two Telugu states have reported the maximum number of HIV/AIDS cases.

However, due to Telangana’s aggressive intervention, the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) has reported a drop of 19 per cent in fresh HIV/AIDS infections and a 45 per cent dip in AIDS-related deaths.

Earlier this week, the New England Journal of Medicine first published an account of using CRISPR to treat a disease in an adult, where the DNA changes have been confined to that person.

The attempt was successful in some ways but fell short of being an HIV cure. This has given a lot of hope to the affected people according to Dr Carl June, a University of Pennsylvania genetics expert, who wrote for the journal.

According to the Telangana State AIDS Control Society (TSACS), despite the decline in fresh HIV cases, there are more people living with HIV/AIDS in Telangana and AP compared with other states.

A senior official disclosed that there were an estimated 1.30 lakh people with HIV/AIDS in the state of which, 76,748 are receiving free anti-retroviral treatment (ART) from NACO. NACO has made it mandatory for states to provide treatment to those affected.

A director at TSACS, Preeti Meena, says the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among the general population in the country was 0.22 per cent while in Telangana and AP, it stood at 0.6 per cent and 0.66 per cent.

Through sustained effort, the number of patients has dropped, but this has also reduced central funding, making the task arduous.

The society is working closely with “Amma Odi” and “KCR Kits scheme” that provides financial support and closely monitors mother and child health.

As a part of this, the state also tracks pregnant HIV mothers and administers medicines to ensure infants are free from HIV.

In 2017-18, the department tested 7,63,297 pregnant women for HIV/AIDS of which 692 were positive, she said.

The news of genetic intervention has given fresh hope to many suffering from the dreaded virus, which suggests a remission, but not a total cure yet, say officials at the TSACS.

“The altered cells are only between 5 to 8 per cent and easily outnumbered by vulnerable ones, once 90 per cent or more are altered the chances of cure would be very high”, they say quoting the New England Journal, a well respected medical publication.