Positive people network gives hope to HIV patients

ALLAHABAD:Akash was found to be HIV+ eight years ago. He was thrown out of the ICU andlooked down upon by everyone. "Everything around me was dark and horrifying. Iwas on the verge of committing suicide when I met a doctor who told me that Ihad another 20 years to live and that too with a purpose," Akash says. Today, heis working with Allahabad Network for People living with AIDS/HIV(ANP+).Ratna, too, works with this Network. "My world crumbled whenI realised that I was HIV+. But, I was motivated to take care of myself and workfor others like me," she says. Today, she helps patients for their check-ups atART centre in SRN Hospital and arranges for all other base line tests,medicines, counselling and other logistics required for them. "Evena slight indication of HIV+ status shatters a person. It is pertinent to talk tosuch persons, encourage and motivate them. We need to make them believe thatHIV+ does not mean the end of life. By disclosing our status to them we givethem hope that they too will live," Ratna adds.The Network works forcapacity building of HIV+ people. It provides advocacy, pre-counselling, postcounselling and peer counselling as also facilitating health services,government and non-government schemes, employment opportunities for them. It ismainly involved in spreading awareness regarding AIDS, and motivating AIDSpatients to take the prescribed medicines regularly and the required precautionswithout fail.Even today AIDS is a dreaded word and hence personsafflicted with AIDS are victimised and discriminated against in educationalinstitutions, work places and even hospitals. "There are many cases whenpatients with AIDS were not admitted in hospitals and we had to take it upvociferously with higher authorities," says Vimlesh Kumar from theNetwork.There is a need to ensure a continuous supply of second linemedicines, medicines for Opportunistic Infections (OI) and availability of bloodfor HIV+ patients. We need to make all these easily accessible to AIDS patientsin hospitals, adds Mohd Alam Ansari."It is important that we movebeyond fear and ignorance and embrace people living with HIV and AIDS byreplacing stigma and discrimination with understanding and support," says DrAmitabh Upadhyay from ART centre, SRN Hospital. Dr Meesham, district Aidscontrol officer too agrees and adds, "we need to increase access to prevention,treatment and cure of HIV and AIDS. Let us all be a part of the solution andspread awareness regarding HIV and AIDS."