Tele- Counselling in Delhi: Dial 6852785

[Guest guest]

Different Strokes-AIDING ANGELS

The Pioneer March 10, 2002

ARE YOU scared that you could be HIV positive but are just to shy to ask anyone?

Now all information about AIDS is just a phone call away. Dial 6852785 and clear

all your doubts about AIDS.

In a country where 3.5 million people are infected with AIDS, Dr Bir Singh,

Coordinator, AIDS Education & Training Cell, realised the need to open a cell

that would help people clear their myths concerning AIDS.

In 1998, the Centre for Community Medicine at the All India Institute of Medical

Sciences, launched an AIDS Education & Training Cell. This centre is one of its

kind in Delhi, with a telephone line named Shubchintak, providing its callers

basic information about AIDS.

The difference between this helpline and many other such ventures is that this

is an interactive helpline. The caller can ask supplementary questions till

he/she gets a satisfying answer.

" Counselling is given to anyone who calls us. All calls are taken personally,

and the callers identity is not asked, so that the person feels completely

comfortable talking to our counsellors, " says Dr. Singh.

The service is apparently very popular in Delhi as can be gauged by the fact

that 2405 calls were attended to by the Helpline in just 75 working days of the

first three month since 1999. Initially only men used to call up, but now the

number of women callers is steadily increasing.

" Counselling over the phone is a unique and effective feature of the Centre, as

most people do not like to talk about AIDS openly " says , Counsellor, AIDS

Education & Training Cell.

And, of course there are some cases that bring a smile.

Dr. Singh recounts a call he received from a woman who's nine-year-old son

suspected that he was HIV positive after his hand went into a drain. Another, a

class ten student, who preparing for her exam, felt she had contracted the HIV

virus after she slept with her friend one night.

People coming to the centre are also given free counselling and if they are

likely to have acquired the HIV infection, then an ELISA test is done free of

cost. Before the test is undertaken, the patient is given pre test counselling

and if the test comes out positive then a post test counselling is also done.

" The main aim is to make people ask us questions and in the process gain

awareness about AIDS, " says .

Dr. Bir Singh said that the centre is planning to expand its reach by launching

similar helpline services on a new number. The centre is looking forward to

installing an answering machine to operate beyond office hours, as of now, the

services are extended only between 10am and 5pm on week days. (The objective of

the AIDS Education Centre is to bridge the gap between the services available

and the needs generated among patients.

" By talking about their beliefs and myths concerning AIDS, people will over come

their inhibitions and stop undermining its potential. Moreover, the need of the

hour is to educate more and more people about AIDS and inform them that no one

is safe from it, unless the necessary precautions are taken, " says Dr. Singh.) -

Nusrat F Jafri

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Dr.Jagdish Harsh ( jharsh@... )

Director of Administration and Operations

François-Xavier Bagnoud (INDIA) ( www.fxb.org )

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