Socio-Economic Impact of HIV and AIDS in Tamil nadu

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Reasons for high HIV prevalence in Cambum Cambum is near the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, and there is heavy movement of trucks/lorries in this region. It is also very close to the tourist spot of Thekadi, which is a sanctuary. Prostitution is widespread in this area. Due to poverty and lack of any other source of income, even housewives and positive women, who have become widows are involved in the flesh trade. Although many of the participants did not seem to understand the word HIV-positive, they all know about AIDS. The participants were asked if they had experienced any discrimination in their homes, workplace, health facilities etc. and were told that they could freely share their experiences. These subjects were taken up one by one. Many of the participants narrated their experiences. Discrimination at health facilities 1. One of the women participants narrated her case. Once when her husband was very ill (vomiting continuously) he was taken to the nearest government hospital (maybe a PHC) at Kandamkoil, but he was refused treatment there; and at night, he had to be taken to the district government hospital. The general feeling was that, except at the district hospital, the HIV-positive are generally refused treatment in all government health facilities. It is possible that the government health facilities at the lower level are neither equipped nor trained to handle PLWHA, and are afraid of treating them. 2. A young HIV-positive widow narrated her experience. She and her husband were both diagnosed HIV-positive when she was five months pregnant (in the year 2000). When the doctor at the private nursing home, where she was going for check-ups, came to know that she was positive, he refused to continue her treatment. Her in-laws were forcing her to go in for an abortion. Fearing that she would be denied admission even in a government hospital if her status were known, she went to the government hospital without revealing her status. 3. A similar incident was narrated by another woman, where they sought treatment for her father-in-law when he had a heart attack, without divulging his status since they feared refusal of treatment were the true status known. Thus discrimination forces people to hide their HIV-positive status and this might in fact lead to spread of the infection. The participants were also asked if they were taking medicines from faith healers and others or any other system of medicine. One of the participants said that he was getting medicines from an ashram in Thiruvananthapuram. He was given tablets and told that he would be cured of the infection. Although he took the medicine for about ten days, he did not find any improvement. He later went to the government hospital at Periyakulam. The general opinion was that people used to believe in faith healers till recently. However, now the awareness level of the people has improved and they do not get carried away by the words of such persons. 132 Socio-Economic Impart of HIV and AIDS in Tamil Nadu, India
Discrimination at workplace Many of the participants had not revealed their status at their workplace fearing discrimination. However, a number of women who were working as wagelabourers mentioned that since they were unable to go to work regularly because of their ill health, the others were probably aware of their status. In their case, neither their employers nor their co-workers treated them badly or any differently from the others. One of the participants, a construction worker, had a different story to narrate. The contractor with whom he was working had stopped giving him work when he came to know about the participant’s HIV status, since he was afraid that a PLWHA may not be able to come to work regularly. Because of this, he had decided not to reveal his HIV status to his current employer. Discrimination in the community The general perception was that in the last two years, a lot of changes have taken place in the attitude of people towards PLWHA. An incident that took place about four years ago was narrated by one of the participants. When a man died of AIDS in their village, nobody went for his cremation, and the community isolated the family. His widow got married to another PLWHA. Now the attitude of the people has changed due to the awareness campaign undertaken by the Network activists. People have now realised that HIV does not spread by touching those who are HIV-positive. Discrimination in the family Most of the participants did not complain about any discrimination in the family circle. They do get visitors and are invited for social functions. However, one of them mentioned that his relatives were not interacting freely with him. It is interesting to note that stigma and discrimination seem more of an urban and middle-class phenomenon. The rural poor seem to accept the HIV-positive more easily. This was corroborated by the experience of a woman participant who was somewhat educated and belonged to the lower middle class. Although her brother’s family supported her after she became a widow, they told her to keep her bed and vessels separately and not to kiss her daughter, who is HIV-negative. They were always scared that they might catch the infection from her. Her parents were worried that it would be difficult for them to get her younger sister married. Hence, they immediately arranged the younger sister’s marriage even though she was only 16. However, another participant had a very different experience. In his house, his mother, brothers and sisters were taking special care of him since they felt that he was not going to live for long. The participants were asked if they had any problem in getting houses on rent. None of them seemed to have faced any such problem. This shows that discrimination can be much less in rural areas. Children’s education Generally, the participants mentioned that they did not have any problem in getting their wards admission in schools and all of them were sending their children to school. In the case of children who were studying in public schools, the teachers as well as the parents of other students seemed to know about their HIV status. However, one of the participants whose children Annexures 133
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Socio-Economic IMPACT of HIV and AI
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© United Nations Development Progr
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Acknowledgements This report would
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CHAPTER 6 Impact of HIV and AIDS on
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Table 5.2 Average per capita per mo
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Table 8.2 Distribution of sample PL
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Executive Summary Introduction AIDS
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The work force participation rate r
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In the HIV households, both the rat
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discrimination. This discrimination
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2 Socio-Economic Impact of HIV and
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Tamil Nadu has been identified as o
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Table 1.3 Source of infection in Ta
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interviewed for the study. A detail
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Household selections were made with
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In o rd e r t o s e l e c t t h e n
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Chapter 3 Profile of Sample Househo
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Table 3.3 Distribution of sample ho
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households use firewood. Liquified
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Table 3.7 Current and the past occu
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Table 4.1 Distribution of sample ho
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income class, it is seen that while
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That the impact of the epidemic is
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Table 4.6 Change in job due to HIV
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Table 4.9 The situation with respec
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Most of the loss in income has been
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Occupational category Table 4.13 Lo
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4.6 Observations The prevalence of
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lesser than that of non-HIV househo
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Table 5.3 ...(Contd.) HIV household
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Table 5.4 ..... (Contd.) HIV househ
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Table 5.5 Distribution of consumpti
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Table 5.6 Distribution of consumpti
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While the non-HIV households are po
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Table 5.7 .... (Contd.) HIV househo
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Table 5.8. .... (Contd.) HIV househ
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Table 5.10 Distribution of savers a
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households is, however, the highest
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growth of CPI in 2004-05 over 1999-
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the expenditure of households that
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While the burden of illness is bein
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impact is measured not only by aski
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Annual household income (Rs) Age 6-
Page 102 and 103: The percentage of girls from HIV ho
Page 104 and 105: In both HIV and non-HIV households,
Page 107 and 108: Impact of HIV and AIDS on Health
Page 109 and 110: Chapter 7 Impact of HIV and AIDS on
Page 111 and 112: 7.1.2 Prevalence rates of illnesses
Page 113 and 114: 7.2 Details about nonhospitalised i
Page 115 and 116: Again, it is seen that fever remain
Page 117 and 118: Table 7.9 Distribution of non-hospi
Page 119 and 120: Table 7.12 Frequency of hospitalisa
Page 121 and 122: It is seen that both in rural and u
Page 123 and 124: Table 7.18 Distribution of hospital
Page 125 and 126: Stigma and Discrimination, Knowledg
Page 127 and 128: Chapter 8 Stigma and Discrimination
Page 129 and 130: 8.3 Reaction to HIV status 8.3.1 In
Page 131 and 132: from counsellors helped them to com
Page 133 and 134: provide supportive environment for
Page 135 and 136: minimal risk of contracting the inf
Page 137 and 138: Table 8.10 Distribution of responde
Page 139 and 140: Table 8.12 Distribution of responde
Page 141 and 142: to mingle with children belonging t
Page 143 and 144: Conclusion and Policy Implications
Page 145 and 146: Chapter 9 Conclusion and Policy Imp
Page 147 and 148: also reluctant to divulge their sta
Page 149 and 150: Annexures Conclusion and Policy Imp
Page 151: Annexures Annexure I Summary of foc
Page 155 and 156: that now. One of the participants w
Page 157 and 158: Annexure II Box 1 Case study 1: Tam
Page 159 and 160: Box 2 Case Study 2: From riches to
Page 161: United Nations Development Programm
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Socio-Economic Impact of HIV and AIDS in Tamil nadu

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