HIV/AIDS in rural India: Context and health care needs

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HIV/AIDS IN RURAL INDIA: CONTEXT AND HEALTH CARE NEEDS

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SASEENDRAN PALLIKADAVATH a1 , LAILA GARDA a2 , HEMANT APTE a2 ,

JANE FREEDMAN a1 and R. WILLIAM STONES a1

a1 Centre for AIDS Research, University of Southampton, UK

a2 KEM Hospital Research Centre, Pune, India

Journal of Biosocial Science (2004), :1-15 Cambridge University Press

Copyright © 2004 Cambridge University Press

DOI 10.1017/S0021932004006893

Abstract

Primary research on HIV/AIDS in India has predominantly focused on

known risk groups such as sex workers, STI clinic attendees and

long-distance truck drivers, and has largely been undertaken in urban

areas. There is evidence of HIV spreading to rural areas but very

little is known about the context of the infection or about issues

relating to health and social impact on people living with HIV/AIDS.

In-depth interviews with nineteen men and women infected with HIV who

live in rural areas were used to collect experiences of testing and

treatment, the social impacts of living with HIV and differential

impacts on women and men.

Eight focus group discussions with groups drawn from the general

population in the four villages were used to provide an analysis of

community level views about HIV/AIDS. While men reported contracting

HIV from sex workers in the cities, women considered their husbands to

be the source of their infection.

Correct knowledge about HIV transmission co-existed with

misconceptions. Men and women tested for HIV reported inadequate

counselling and sought treatment from traditional healers as well as

professionals. Owing to the general pattern of husbands being the

first

to contract HIV women faced a substantial burden, with few resources

remaining for their own or their children's care after meeting the

needs of sick husbands. Stigma and social isolation following

widowhood were common, with an enforced return to the natal home.

Implications for potential educational and service interventions are

discussed within the context of gender and social relations.

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Pallikadavath S.

E-mail: <S.Pallikadavath@...>

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A pdf copy of the article is available from the moderator.