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New Indian contactless smart card scheme could be life-saver
23 Jun 2010

A new contactless smart card scheme has been launched in India which will allow patients to pick up medicine in any treatment centre.

Residents with HIV or AIDs will be issued with swipe cards containing their medical history, allowing doctors in any Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) centre to administer the correct medicine, reports the hindustantimes.com 

Currently, ART medicine can only be collected at a single designated centre as integral medical information is held on one site. 

Dr Damodar Bachani, deputy director general at the National AIDS Control Organisation, was full of praise for the scheme. 

He said: "This will benefit all patients, especially migrants and mobile population, who find it difficult to stick to the treatment plan. We hope to improve drug adherence, so there are fewer cases of resistance."

A HIV patient is at risk of developing resistance to the drugs if they fail to take their medication for three consecutive days. 

The smart card scheme has already been piloted at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi, and will be rolled out across the county in the coming months.