Over the last 25 years, YRGCARE has provided clinical care for over 22000 persons living with HIV infection and disease in India. Since 1994, over 25,000 walk-in clients have received voluntary counseling and testing.YRGCARE now operates with two models:

Locally:  A hub- and-spoke model for general population – our clinical services extend to all infectious diseases with a focus on HIV, Hepatitis C,TB and non-communicable diseases in persons living with HIV. Our out-patient clinic (click here for appointments) in Chennai serves as the hub connected to a network of hospitals (government/private) and centers of excellence within the city. We can attend to HIV patients admitted in any part of the city and offer pharmacy services to patients across India. Our longest serving satellite clinic is in Nellore.

Nationally:  An integrated care (HIV/TB/HCV/STIs) service delivery model forover 20000 high-risk behaviour populationsthrough our outreach programsin fourteen states across India  (click here).
Outpatient clinic:

Clinic Timings:
The outpatient clinic is open between 8.00 AM and 6.00PM Monday to Friday. 8.00 AM to 2 PM on Saturday. In-patient services are made available 24/7 at network hospitals.

Medical Team:
The center has 4 physicians trained in HIV Medicine.

Dr Amrose Pradeep serves as a Chief Medical Officer and is an active researcher in the field of HIV Medicine. He was Fogarty International Clinical Research Fellow at Brown University (USA). His key interests are HIV/HCV coinfections and HIV immunology. Dr Amrose is experienced in HIV/acute and Critical Care Medicine for over twelve years and attends to all in-patients in YRGCARE network hospitals. Dr Amrose Pradeep is the Principal Investigator and study physician for clinical research in collaboration with Brighams and Women’s Hospital (Harvard), International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Indian Council of Medical Research, FIND, and Johns Hopkins University projects in three Indian states (Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, and Manipur).

Dr Chithra A Devaraj is an experienced senior clinician with over 20 years of experience as a general physician in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu; over eight years in HIV medicine and a research physician for AIDS Clinical Trials Network Group and HIV Positive Trial Network. Her focus is nutrition in chronic diseases.

Dr R Balakrishnan is a biochemist and has served in YRGCARE for four years; experienced in dealing with high-risk behaviour populations infected with HIV/HCV/TB. Dr Balakrishnan has served as a study physician for AIDS Clinical Trials Network Group and is the Principal Investigator for HCV treatment related field research in Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh).

Dr Rifa Tazyeem Khan also serves as a clinical epidemiologist. She completed her Master’s in Public Health for Development from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK). Dr Rifa Khan’s focus is on healthcare delivery models, infectious diseases dynamics (HIV/HCV/TB), preventive medicine for cardiovascular diseases in children and adolescents infected with HIV and screening for HPV. She is the physician point of contact for sixteen YRGCARE-Johns Hopkins University integrated care centers (ICC) for high-risk behaviour populations across India.

Paediatric Clinic: YRGCARE provides medical care, psychosocial support and skills development programs for children infected with HIV. Dr Mothi, from Asha Kirana, is our visiting pediatrician. Our paediatric camp is currently supported by Hyundai-Glovis. Children and adolescents are offered free ART, dental screening and visual aids with optometry apart from subsidized ART monitoring package (lab tests). We offer subsidized screening of cardiovascular health and link to care with the help of a paediatric interventional cardiologist.More than 200 children and adolescents with HIV are on active follow- up.

Peripheral Clinic: YRGCARE runs an outpatient clinical program in collaboration with Indian Red Cross in Nellore (Andhra Pradesh). This clinic is operational between Monday and Saturday between 8 AM to 4 PM. The clinic is equipped with a trained physician, nurse, counsellor are available for medical and psychosocial care. The clinic is equipped with a laboratory to conduct HIV spot tests, CD4 count, HIV/HCV viral load, biochemistry and haemtology. A subsidized pharmacy is also located inside the clinic.

HIV Voluntary Testing and Counselling:

YRGCARE offers counseling relating to HIV testing and diagnosis (pre and post-test counseling) as well as other support counseling for individuals, couples, children and families.  Our counsellors are:
Mrs. Lakshmi Prasad has served people with HIV for over two decades. She has been instrumental in initiating many facilities for retro-positive patients; chiefly disclosure of HIV positive status for children and adolescents.

Mrs. Vinothini has served as a counsellor of over a decade. Mrs Vinothini is also the research counsellor for the Syndemics study in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Harvard University). The focus of this study is to improve adherence to ART.

The counsellors are also active researchers, exploring better solutions for ART adherence. Support counseling involves treatment and adherence counseling. Our psychosocial support measures include (a) matrimonial services for HIV positive individuals (Contact Ms. Annie Zachariah /Mrs. Lakshmi Prasad) (b) special counselling to serodiscordant couples eager to conceive (c) couples counselling for use of PrEP (Pre-exposure Prophylaxis) (d)antenatal counselling for prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child.

Pharmacy:

YRGCARE offers a subsidized pharmacy. Antiretroviral therapy, antivirals for Hepatitis B, anti-tuberculosis, antifungals, and other medications as needed are dispensed with adherence counseling. Medications can be delivered with cost-free courier. The YRGCARE Pharmacy has served over 24000 patients since 2001. Our subsidised prices and cost-free courier of medications are aimed to offset financial and geographical barriers to access ART.

Laboratory Diagnosis:

YRGCARE laboratory (NABL certified) offer state-of-the-art diagnostic and monitoring facilities for infectious diseases immunology, hematology and biochemistry. The division of molecular virology plays a key role in mapping viral genotypes and drug resistance.For details about on-going and completed lab research click here.

Clinical and Clinical Research Training

YRGCARE embodies translational science. It is our constant endeavor to deliver sustainably better healthcare by methods of shared learning (from bench to bedside to community). Practical training for the diagnosis and management of opportunistic and co-infections, co-morbidities and on the use of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) is provided for physicians at the YRGCARE. Students from diverse backgrounds (medicine, public health, epidemiology, laboratory sciences, and psychosocial workers)are trained in methods of outreach, clinical care, implementation science and operational research in diverse HIV-epidemic settings in India. Ethics and Good Clinical Practices Training is offered in English and Tamil for all research staff actively involved in clinical, laboratory and field research.