Goa: NGO to fight HIV, improve life of AIDS patients

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NGO to fight HIV, improve life of AIDS patients

VASCO, OCT 27 — HERALD CORRESPONDENT

— A new chapter in the prevention of HIV/AIDS will be ushered, with

yet another NGO Zindagi set to fight the dreaded virus in the State.

Zindagi will be launched in the State by Chief Minister Manohar

Parrikar at Panjim on October 28.

Zindagi is a Non-Government organisation managed by the People Living

With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). According to Arun Tomar, president of Zindagi

Goa unit, the main aim of Zindagi is to reduce discrimination and

stigma and to improve the quality of life of people living with

HIV/AIDS. Tomar pointed out that Zindagi is affiliated to INP+ and

membership is open to all Goans living with HIV/AIDS, irrespective of

caste, gender or religion.

" PLWHA are free to take decisions in revealing their personal

affairs. Name and the details regarding the PLWHA will be kept a

close secret, " he pointed out. " We are small but committed team of 45

members. We as an NGO acknowledge the challenge the PLWHA faces and

we commit to respond with sensitivity, responsibility and vigor to

the community who have contracted or are likely to contract

HIV/AIDS, " Tomar claimed.

The Zindagi Goa unit president pointed out that every day the number

of HIV/AIDS patients is on the increase and HIV/AIDS is also

responsible for destroying the fabric of the supporting social

structures of a nation. He explained that the extended families are

common in India and individuals are dependent on these families for

many reasons, although such communities have a long tradition of

caring for the ill. " The enormous financial burden and too frequent

stigmatization associated with caring for people who are infected

with HIV/AIDS have ripped families and communities apart, " remarked

Tomar.

" Very few people living with HIV have access to appropriate

information and education about basic facts like HIV progression in

the body, information regarding living with HIV, access to treatment

and protecting the rights of people living with HIV, " claimed Tomar.

According to Tomar, the world has been very slow to understand and

respond to the disease and its implications. " This is because most of

the people living with HIV maintain secrecy about their status in

India and thus, the epidemic is not visible socially. They are afraid

to be identified and as a result, they are not seen in day-to-day

life. The public seems to know very little or nothing about the

people living with HIV. This leads to bringing behaviour change in

the masses a difficult task, " admitted Tomar.

He insisted that there is an urgent need to promote social acceptance

and larger visibility of people living with HIV to impart deep

knowledge and not just awareness about HIV/AIDS related issues.

In countries where the atmosphere is conducive and social acceptance

of people living with HIV is widespread, the visibility of the

epidemic is higher and behaviour change is made easier.

The countries with greater involvement and visibility of people

living with HIV have proven more successful in dealing with the

epidemic. Though the number of individuals who have tested positive

for HIV is going up every year since 1987, the percentage of those

screened to those found infected by HIV has seen a drop in the last

two years and the trend appears to hold good this year also.

Goa has screened above 5% of its population for HIV, which is the

highest in the country.

Although 1% has been found positive, this is not an indicator for the

entire state, as those screened are from the high risk category.

The main efforts of Goa State AIDS Control Society (GSACS) are

towards educating people on HIV/AIDS to re-assure that HIV/AIDS is

preventable, not curable. Zindagi aims to take a step further for

working for the people who are infected with HIV/AIDS.

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