CHENNAI, Feb 17 (Bernama) — HIV-positive sufferers who have been socially isolated because of the stigma attached to them, are not enduring their traumatic life in loneliness anymore.
They are beginning to lead a new life by marrying a partner with similar conditions. Such marriages are on the increase in high-risk districts like Namakkal, about 400km from here.
In South India, marriages among couples with HIV are becoming a trend and at least 300 of them have tied the knot in Andhra Pradesh, thanks to the effort by the Telugu Network of Positive People.
“These marriages help limit the spread of the disease, provide security to the affected females and moreover give companionship to the couple.
“The HIV affected people meet their partners in government hospitals that give antiretroviral therapy to extend longevity,” said A.B. Antony Jennit, a psychologist from the Tamil Nadu Dr M.G.R. Medical University.
India has nearly 2.5 million HIV/Aids patients and about 70,000 children suffer from the disease which destroys the human immune system.
Widespread discrimination against HIV infected people is still prevalent in India and as a result many live in isolation without access to decent healthcare.
Last year in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, a HIV-positive woman was forced to deliver her baby outside hospital as the doctors failed to attend to her and this triggered a strong protest from civil rights groups.
On condition of anonymity, a newly married HIV-infected woman told Bernama that she decided to marry for the sake of her children and to escape the social trauma.
“I lost my husband at a very young age because of HIV and he also transmitted it to me. Often, I was ostracised by my in-laws and life was miserable.
“So, I decided to marry again and it is the best option for me and my children,” she the woman whose deceased husband worked as a truck driver in Namakkal.
Andhra Pradesh has nearly 500,000 HIV infected people, mostly villagers in the coastal areas.
In Namakkal, 20 percent of its 53,000 population have been affected by the virus and the prevalence of HIV among pregnant women is about three percent in the district where men mostly eked out as truck drivers.