Now in matrimonial columns: Age, occupation and HIV status

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Now in matrimonial columns: Age, occupation and HIV status

Newindpress

AHMEDABAD: Like millions of couples across India, Nayan and Sushma

got married six months ago through matrimonial advertisements placed by their

families in leading newspapers in Ahmedabad.

But what made this match different were the ads-they clearly mentioned that both

were HIV carriers.

Breaking all mental barriers, an increasing number of HIV-positive

men and women in Ahmedabad are coming out in the open on their

health status to find the right partner-not just in the newspapers

but also on websites.

" I was having a hard time taking care of my five-year-old daughter

after I lost my first husband due to AIDS three years ago, " says

Shusma, who works as a pre-primary schoolteacher.

" We are being truthful. We only marry people of the same status. By

seeing the ads, we have better chances of finding a better match, " says Nayan,

an auto mechanic.

Says Hitesh, a 32-year-old autorickshaw driver, who recently decided

to place a matrimonial ad in a newspaper: " I have been a carrier for

almost three years now. Earlier I was disappointed, but I am open to

the idea of getting married and living a normal life. "

Says Dr D M Saxena, Additional Project Director of Gujarat State

AIDS Control Society: " It's a welcome change which has come over in

the last few years. Gradually, people have understood the difference

between a carrier and a full-blown patient and HIV-positive people

are accepted in a much better way. "

There are also those, like this 29-year-old woman from a upper middle class

household, who don't mind advertising their HIV status but refrain from

identifying themselves.

" Being HIV-positive is not as much a taboo as it was earlier. But

for safety reasons, we do not directly give away our names or

addresses but put the contact numbers of some close relative, " she

said, when contacted through a number given in a matrimonial ad on a

website.

Says H Raj, who runs Face to Face, a matrimonial service in the city's

Navrangpura area: " People are definitely more open and bolder now. I came across

three HIV carriers recently-from Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat-who readily

agreed to place ads in local dailies and did not think twice about mentioning

their health status. "

One of the three, Raj says, is happily married today. Over 5,400 AIDS cases have

been recorded in Gujarat since the first one in 1986-

an estimated 0.3 per cent of the 2.5 crore adults in the state are

HIV-positive.

While Gujarat was marked for middle-level prevalence in 1994, along

with Tamil Nadu and Nagaland, it has been able to keep a check on

its AIDS numbers, say officials.

Says Dr Laxman Malodia, of the AIDS Control Society of the Ahmedabad

Municipal Corporation (AMC): " It was not easy but it was never as difficult as

in other states. Patients here have been more co- operative and understanding.

However, placing matrimonial ads in

newspapers is quite appreciable and something that one does not come

across every day. "

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