Forty-six new antiretroviral treatment (ART) centers for HIV/AIDS patients will open in India by mid-June, according to local reports.

The new centers will be located in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Manipur, Nagaland, Kerala, Punjab, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Assam, Orissa, Haryana, Jammu, Jharkhand, Uttranchal, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram.

Fifty-four new ART centers became operational on April 30 and have provided free treatment to 28,670 patients. An estimated 85,300 patients will be treated in 2006 by these two centers, according to the National AIDS Control Organization, which helps fund the establishments.