Counsellors help 3,000 take HIV in stride

Raghu (name changed),a labourer diagnosed HIV-positive,soon transmitted the virus to his wife and four children who were born later.

Raghu (name changed),a labourer diagnosed HIV-positive,soon transmitted the virus to his wife and four children who were born later. Raghus wife died of multiple infections but he remained unrepentant. He forced his children to beg and continued to visit prostitutes.

This went on till Raghu attended a health camp organised by devotees of Sant Tukaram during the annual palkhi. Here,he met counsellors of Positive Living Centre (PLC) and they helped him turn over a new leaf during a year of counselling. Raghu soon got a job as a security man and his children were enrolled in a municipal school.

Positive Living Centre (PLC) in Pimpri,set up by the Maharashtra Network of People Living with HIV (NMP+),has supported more than 3,000 such people. The project is funded and supported by Global Fund for AIDS,TB and Malaria (GFATM) and Population Services International (PSI),says Pravin Salunkhe,coordinator of the Samarth project at NMP+.

It was set up initially in Pune and was later shifted to Pimpri. Mahadev Touti,counsellor in Pimpri,says the Pune project has been successful and is being replicated in Wardha and Beed districts.

Touti says the migrant population in Pune is huge and they are clueless about HIV testing facilities. Several NGOs in Pune are working in the field of HIV care and support. Hence we moved to Pimpri where PLC linked up with Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) centre. PLC provides check-ups,monitoring,counselling,nutrition advice and drop-in facilities. We also have support groups and have started help generate income,with about 15 women having been given grants of Rs 5,000 to start businesses in tailoring,making agarbattis or plastic wrapping, says Touti.

PLC also counsels people on education of HIV-affected children. Around 800 children have availed of such facilities. The aim is to encourage healthy living says Shabana Patel,advocacy officer of NMP+.

In Wardha district,says Durga Samgirkar who coordinates the functioning of the newly started PLC,more than 300 HIV positive people have availed of the facilities. Nutrition is a major component here and we advise people on good eating habits, she adds.

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