Bringing help to people with HIV/AIDS on Kolkata's streets.

Calcutta Rescue (CR) adapts to changing health needs and what is being offered by the other health providers. Not only in India but globally HIV/Aids is the priority issue.
CR, with its expertise in health care delivery over the last 27 years, is ideally suited to take up the challenge of providing for the health needs of the poorest of the poor and marginalised in and around Kolkata.
Though there are numerous NGOs working on HIV/Aids in India at the local, state and national level, plus initatives by the government, the majority of the services are restricted to health education and targeted interventions for high risk groups. Only a few NGOs are providing subsidised first-line treatment and then only to a restricted number of infected patients.
Calcutta Rescue’s approach of holistic care for its patients aims to bridge the gap and make treatment accessible for the poorest of the poor who find it difficult to find money for daily necessities, let alone purchasing vital drugs – even at a subsidised cost.
For the past decade CR has educated its staff about HIV and Aids and, through its healthcare workers, the communities it serves. This forms an integral part of CR’s IEC (Information, Education and Communication).
CR has recently developed a protocol for the treatment of HIV/Aids patients, taking into consideration the availability of the treatment and investigations. The number of high risk CR patients testing HIV-positive after screening continues to climb, especially among multi-drug resistant TB patients and thallassaemics (people with an inherited form of anaemia), But CR has in place the necessary logistics to deal with the situation.

CR, under the supervision of its founder, Dr Jack Preger,runs a dedicated clinic for marginalised persons with HIV/Aids. This provides patients with first-line treatment, as well as providing the more difficult and expensive secondline treatment, which is increasingly needed.
CR has built relationships with the School of Tropical Medicine in Kolkata, which is the leading institution in Bengal for the management of HIV/Aids patients, the Medical College Hospital of the Government of West Bengal, and other service providers, for referral services for counselling, diagnosis, investigation, treatment and institutional care.
CR has made provision, based on the best practice guidelines from these organisations, for the diagnosis and treatment of 50 diagnosed HIV-positive patients, most with second-line anti-retroviral drugs (as the first-line drugs are available and supplied, though sometimes erratically, by state hospitals).
Treatment costs around Rs9,000 per patient per month.

Dr G M Rahaman (Bobby)
Medical Co-ordinator