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What is Anti Retroviral Therapy (A.R.T.)?
Anti Retroviral Therapy (A.R.T.) prevents HIV multiplication and thus reduces their number. This prevents further damage to body's defense (Immune) system and thus improves quality of life and prolongs it. These ARV medicines are required to be
taken for life. These are very powerful and can produce certain untoward side effects. Therefore it is necessary to take ART medicines regularly under proper guidance and follow-up.
There are certain criteria laid down by WHO which are followed to initiate A.R.T. Low CD-4 lymphocyte count and high viral load are some of the important criteria to start A.R.T. But the decision to start A.R.T. must be left to the trained clinician. The clinician will decide starting A.R.T. considering factors like symptoms, side effects of medicines, adherence etc. Normally if CD-4 count is less than 200, A.R.T. is recommended; if CD-4 count is between 200 - 350 it depends on the clinical stage and if the count is more than 350, usually A.R.T. is not started, but regular follow-ups at 6 months interval is recommended.
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List
of ARTS Centres
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Some facts about ART
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