HIV victims resort to suicide, despite counselling: study

[Guest guest]

[A soft copy of the article. Nanda, Satyajeet and Aparimita Pramanik: Towards a

Theory of Stigmatization: A Study of Persons Living with HIV, Working Paper:

MICORE/SDC/002, Mudra Institute of Communications Research,Ahmedabad, is

available from the editor AIDS INDIA e FORUM]

HIV victims resort to suicide, despite counselling: study

BS Reporter / Mumbai/ Ahmedabad June 12, 2009, 0:39 IST

Even after passing through indepth counselling processes, HIV positive and AIDS

victims resort to stringent steps as suicide, according to a recent study.

Stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS has been a major barrier in the prevention, care

and treatment of the disease, resulting into rampant discrimination. With an aim

to provide support systems to victims of HIV and AIDS, a study has tried to tap

the stigma attached with the deadly disease.

The Social and Development Communication unit of Mudra Institute of

Communication Research (MICORE), has undertaken a series of empirical research

on HIV-related stigmatisation, based on information collected between September

2008 and March 2009 in different cities and villages of three districts of

Gujarat.

According to the 2006 estimates of NACO, national adult HIV prevalence in India

is approximately 0.36 percent, amounting to between 2 and 3.1 million people.

The estimate says that if an average figure is taken, this comes to 2.5 million

people living with HIV and AIDS; almost 50 percent of the previous estimate of

5.2 million.

The study raises doubts about the programs designed by policy-makers and health

communicators like National AIDS Control Policy (NACP) and UN agencies, when it

comes to addressing HIV-related stigmatisation. " While many studies discuss

various effects of stigma, the real process or mechanism involved with its

dynamics and the factors behind them remain unearthed. In spite of the

procedures and the actual time phases involved with the counselling processes,

people infected with HIV/AIDS resort to suicide.

This only shows that the programs planned by the policy makers to change

perceptions is largely unrealistic, " says Satyajeet Nanda, who is heading the

research along with research associate Aparimita Pramanik.

The study reveals that perceptions across different levels of exposure differ

significantly due to a variety of factors involved at individual as well as

institutional levels. Factors such as knowledge of HIV infection cycle and not

merely few routes as advertised by different agencies, society's attitude

towards HIV positive people that reflects the victims' worthiness, social

resilience, infected person's adaptability and availability of supports needed

in the physical or economic form, are responsible for the intensity of the

stigma.

The researchers believe that understanding the dynamics of the stigma at

different times and contexts can help policy-makers and health communicators to

design need-based programs. Nanda suggests that comprehensive programs need to

be designed in order to provide support systems based on the need of people

affected and not merely counselling on few physicological aspects that exist in

some Indian government hospitals.

Nands further says that counselling should start before the blood test results

are known, since stigmatisation takes shape before the results come, often

leaving little space for adapting to counselling with the HIV discovered in the

body, thus resulting stringent actions.

The team is now conducting further study to uncover details in terms of

stakeholders at different institutional land societal levels, and their role in

stigmatisation process at different stages of HIV and AIDS.

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