Counsel cushion at HIV test labs

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Counsel cushion at HIV test labs

ADITYA GHOSH, TIMES NEWS NETWORK [TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2004]

Avishek Mitra (name changed), a student of a city college had everything going

for him when a single blood test shattered his life. A local clinic found him

HIV positive. He committed suicide.

Avishek would have found the courage to live if someone had told him that HIV

doesn't necessarily means AIDS. Or that he could have lived a fulfilling life

even with HIV.

But now there is hope. Spurred by dozens of such tragic reports, the health

department is planning to make it mandatory for all HIV-test clinics to have a

qualified counsellor, who will help the patients — and their families — cope

with the shock. Those that violate the law will have their licence scrapped.

The health department's studies show that though not all take a drastic step

like Avishek, disclosing HIV status without counselling almost invariably leads

to extreme depression and nervous breakdown.

The international protocol specified by World Health Organisation demands every

HIV testing centre to have experienced counsellors who will encourage the

patient to continue with life.

" All the government HIV testing centres have qualified counsellors. In case a

patient is found HIVpositive, he is counselled by experts who are at least

postgraduates in applied psychology.

Otherwise, an HIV positive patient cannot bear the stress and stigma attached to

it and becomes mentally unstable, " said deputy director of West Bengal AIDS

Prevention and Control Society, S. Ojha. But there is virtually no control over

the private clinics and testing centres which test blood for HIV which have

mushroomed all over the state.

" We are seriously contemplating a law that will allow us to act against such

clinics, " Ojha said.

There are 22 government centres in Bengal to test HIV. " By the end of this year,

we will have 30 centres in the state which will cover some of the districts

where we did not have the facilities, " he said.

All the more reason why these new centres should have the safety net of

counselling for HIV patients. According to protocol, HIV status is revealed only

when the patient gives his consent for a test. If blood donated for transfusion

tests positive for HIV, it is not disclosed to the patient. The blood is quietly

discarded.

Prior to a voluntary test, the patient needs to be explained every aspect of the

infection. Even if any venereal disease is detected and the patient belongs to

the high risk group, he/she has to be counselled about possibility of

contracting HIV infection. If the person is found HIV positive, all health

hazards as well as misconception need to be cleared by the psychologists, say

experts.

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