SC to Hear Plea on HIV Drug Quality and Supply on December 3

Concerns over the availability and calibre of anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy medications used to treat HIV patients in the nation have been raised by a request that the Supreme Court announced on Tuesday would hear on December 3.

Anti-HIV medications are used in ARV therapy to treat HIV-positive individuals.

16 states have not yet submitted their answers to the affidavit submitted by the petitioners in September of last year, according to information provided to a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta.

"It would be open for these 16 states to file their response, if they so desire, in the meantime," the bench said.

The court was hearing a plea filed in 2022 by NGO Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS and others.

Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing in the court for the petitioners, said the plea raises an important issue concerning the quality of drugs for treating HIV patients.

"How long can we keep the matter pending if the states are not filing it?" the bench questioned when he mentioned that 16 states had not yet submitted their affidavits. The Center's and other states' solicitors stated that their affidavits had already been submitted.

The court requested that the states submit their answers regarding the quality of ARV-therapy medications within a month in February.

The petitioners' attorney then said that just four states had provided their answers to the affidavit, which had brought up a number of issues, such as the procurement procedure and the quality of medications.

The Centre, in July last year, told the apex court that it was ensuring the availability of free, lifelong ARV drugs for all people living with HIV through ARV-therapy centres under the National AIDS Control Programme.

The petitioners' counsel had earlier said given the developments that took place since the filing of the plea, there was no shortage of drugs at present, but flagged issues regarding the procurement and quality of the drugs.