Dealing with AIDS victims

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Nazmun Nahar Rina
Kalpana, a poor housewife in her mid 20s, had migrated to Dubai in search of work and she got one over there. Kalpana had also started sending money to her poverty-stricken family, but not for too long. What Kalpana took as a mission to get rid of poverty has virtually turned out to be a personal tragedy.
One day, two years later, Kalpana was down with high fever and suffered for 10 straight days. As her fever showed no sign of improvement, doctors got suspicious and asked her to undergo some medical tests, including one for HIV. The worst suspicion came true -- Kalpana tested HIV positive.
The doctors discussed all the findings of her medical tests with her employers keeping Kalpana uninformed about what she had been suffering from. Later, her employers sent her back to Bangladesh.
Back home, Kalpana fell sick again and doctors said she had been infected with HIV, a disease she heard little about. What she understands now is it's a serious disease. Then came the worst - Kalpana's husband divorced her. Now everybody avoids her. Even she has lost her last shelter at her father's house.
Unable to manage two squares meal a day, she went from door to door for any damn job, but no one was ready to give her any work. Last of all, she left her village for a town.
Many people like Kalpana get infected with the fatal disease and carry it for years with little knowledge that they are going to die a slow but painful death.
According to government statistics, there are around 465 HIV carriers in Bangladesh. Of them, 87 have had full-blown AIDS and 44 have already died. But UNAIDS report on The Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic 2002 says around 13,000 people are affected with HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh. A government report in December, however, also said the number of possible HIV-positive people in the country is about 7,500.
There is a common belief in Bangladesh, particularly in rural areas, that AIDS is a communicable disease that passes on to others when one gets close to a victim and shares dishes and bathrooms with him or her, making the life for the HIV victims miserable.
Even the family members hardly bother to isolate the HIV victims and treat them as burden, although it' is everyone's basic right to lead a normal life.
Most of the AIDS/HIV infected people in Bangladesh are from the lower-middle class and women and children are the worst victims, as they do not get any support to live on.
A large number of the AIDS victims rarely get proper medical treatment and are deprived of necessary food to survive. As there is also a wrong notion that AIDS is a result of curse, the victims have to endure social taunts.
"From social point of view, HIV/AIDS victims are as same as other patients. They should be allowed to lead a normal life -- even in their workplace - as one can live long after being infected by the disease," says National AIDS/STD (NASP) Programme Manager Dr M Abdus Selim.
According to Dr Salam, financial and mental supports are necessary for the affected people and everybody has to know it is not a communicable disease. Regular counseling for them is important and voluntary organisations need to come forward to provide the service. Once a HIV/AIDS victim starts taking medicine, s/he has to continue it as long as s/he is alive.
If any pregnant woman gets infected with HIV positive, then she will have to take regular medicines for one month before the childbirth to reduce the risk of passing AIDS onto the unborn baby.
AKM Anisuzzaman, Programme Manager of non-government organisation Mukto Akash working on HIV positive people, says they are giving mental support to the affected people in various ways and discuss their problems with their family members. "If the family members can be made aware about the disease, the victims would not be regarded as burdens."
He continues: Even the educated people are not aware enough. So, necessary messages will have to be sent to them and the doctor's role in this regard is important.
Zaman says many of the affected people do not know that they are HIV carriers. Even if they know about the disease they try to hide it in fear of public disgrace. A congenial environment has to be created so that the affected people can easily disclose their information. Otherwise, the disease will spread in faster rate than anticipated.
Kamal, a 40-year-old expatriate worker, got infected with HIV when he was in the Middle East for nearly seven years, but he did not disclose it. On return home, Kamal (not his real name) got married.
His wife later fell ill seriously and even gave birth to a child. Kamal's wife and their newborn baby were tested HIV positive. Kamal says he had no idea that the virus could get transferred to his wife and baby.
Kamal and his wife then started facing the social wrath -- hatred and isolation. At last, they had to quit their village to avoid the harassment.
"It's our duty to take care of HIV victims like other patients. Their medicine supply has to be ensured along with much needed sympathy. We don't need to be worried about transfer of AIDS as the disease spreads only through sexual acts, blood transmission and the use of germ-borne needles," says Dr Mohammad Raisul Haque of BRAC, a leading NGO.
Dr Raisul is right. The HIV victims deserve a better deal from society. Otherwise, it will be tough to tackle the arising situation.
-- News Network