Thirty-year-old Vimal Khandare from Tadiwala Road is today more confident of handling her HIV status after she was diagnosed with the virus in 2006. I had to take anti-retroviral drugs and soon recovered with a good nutritious diet. The support group meetings also helped me fight the stigma, said Khandare. He attended the meeting of the support group set up by Society of Friends of Sassoon General Hospital and department of paediatrics at Sassoon General Hospital. The monthly meeting of the support group had over 100 people,mainly HIV positive widows,a few men and ten persons who had lost their sons and daughters-in-law to the virus. They now look after their orphaned grandchildren and find the meetings of the support group a blessing as it helps them deal with HIV related complications,said Asha Kanade,in charge,support group run jointly by SOFOSH and the department of paediatrics. According to Dr Arti Kinikar,head, department of paediatrics,Sassoon General Hospital,a study done on 110 orphans showed that HIV/AIDS related mortality has a negative health and socio-economic impact on them. There is high incidence of development delay,repeated hospitalisation,school drop outs,severe malnutrition and incomplete immunisation among the HIV positive orphans,according to the study. HIV/AIDS orphans- The silent sufferers,the study conducted by the department,was submitted in the form of a poster at the recent AIDS conference at Vienna.. The study was conducted on 55 HIV orphans and 55 orphans who did not have HIV to compare the demographic,social and health related characteristics of HIV positive children who had lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS to orphaned non-HIV positive children. These children were mainly from slum areas of Pune and rural parts of the district who visited Sassoon General Hospitals paediatric department for treatment. According to Kinikar,the immunisation status of children without HIV was better than that of the HIV orphans. Most of the orphaned children are below five years of age and more than half the caretakers are illiterate making it difficult to take care of the HIV orphans. Some of the caretakers are elderly who are tackling their own problems. Lack of basic knowledge leads to poor immunisation and nutrition leading to repeated hospitalisations and finally school dropout of the affected child,said Kinikar who has done the study along with SP Adhav,S J Bothra and VM Mave. There was a need for a comprehensive approach in dealing with HIV/AIDS families. The Society of Friends of Sassoon General Hospital has set up a support group to help caretakers of the HIV orphans. The response has been increasing in the last few years after the availability of anti-HIV drugs, said Kinikar. The support group for caretakers meets once a month and provides guidance regarding nutrition and check up of the HIV orphans,added Kinikar.
