Socio-Economic Impact of HIV and AIDS in Tamil nadu

Chapter 9
Conclusion and Policy
Implications
The results of the study in Tamil Nadu
indicate that although the impact of
the epidemic is mainly on the working
members of the household, the entire
household gets affected economically,
physically, emotionally and to some
extent socially. The education of the
children in these families is also being
affected.
The percentage of widows in the sample is
much higher than that of widowers. Also,
while 64 percent of the men discovered
their HIV status after prolonged illness,
the same percentage of women discovered
their status after voluntary testing, and
that too mostly after their husbands had
tested positive. One may infer from this
that in the household set up, there is a
possibility that in a higher percentage
of the cases, the infection is being
transmitted from men to women. Also, as
seen from the profile, many of the PLWHA
have been forced to withdraw from the
labour force due to ill health.
C o m p a r i s o n o f t h e w o r k f o rc e
participation rates of HIV and non-HIV
households shows that the infection
has indeed put an additional burden
of earning on the children and more so
on the elderly in the household. This
is in spite of the fact that work force
participation in the sample is higher for
PLWHA. It would be another matter to
assess what would be the impact when
the presently working PLWHA are unable
to continue working. Not only has the
infection forced a few PLWHA to change
their occupation after being detected
HIV-positive, but some have even had
to give up their jobs. Most of the PLWHA
who had to give up work had to do this
due to ill health. The HIV households were
seen to suffer income loss in three ways:
(a) Currently working PLWHA forced to
take leave or be absent from work due
to ill health, (b) PLWHA dropping out
of work force with worsening physical
condition, and (c) An employed caregiver
in the family had to take leave to look
after the PLWHA. Although the aggregate
economic impact did not appear to be
much at the macro level, it was serious,
particularly in households where the
number of PLWHA was more than one
or where the family suffered loss in more
than one of the above mentioned ways.
There was also no mechanism in place to
support those who lost their jobs and the
issue is more serious in the case of wage
earners who lack social security.
While the annual per capita income of
HIV households in the sample is lesser
than that of the non-HIV households,
their per capita expenditure is higher,
mainly because of higher levels of
Conclusion and Policy Implications
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