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that the atmosphere is conducive to work.
It is seen that a majority of PLWHA who are
employed (74%) have not disclosed their
status at their workplace. Three reasons
have emerged for their not disclosing the
status, the most common being fear of
losing the job (45%). Social discrimination
and lowering of prestige are the other
reasons for not revealing their status.
Of the 26 percent who have disclosed
their status, 10.3 percent have reported
facing discrimination at the hands of the
employer. During the survey, it was also
found that most of those who had revealed
their status were those who were working
in NGOs in the field of HIV and AIDS.
The impact of stigma and discrimination
in healthcare settings is also marked.
P LW H A , b e i n g p r o n e t o m a n y
opportunistic infections have to seek
medical care very often. While one
expects that they would be treated with
care and consideration, the healthcare
setting has emerged as the most frequent
place of discrimination, followed by
familial and community contexts. About
14.4 percent of male and 12 percent of
female sample PLWHA reported that
they had faced discrimination at health
facilities, the percentage being slightly
higher in urban areas.
Because of the stigma attached to HIV,
not only are PLWHA discriminated
against during their lifetime, but this
discrimination continues even after
death. Out of all the households that were
considered for the study in the six states,
502 cases of AIDS death were observed.
Although the number of deaths that
occurred in hospitals is not available,
there have been cases where people
have faced discrimination in hospitals
when a family member has died due to
AIDS. Respondents also reported facing
discrimination at the time of cremating
the body. While in some cases they
were unable to obtain transport to take
the body to the cremation ground, in a
large number of cases, the community
would not allow them to perform the
last rites. In a small percentage of cases
there was non-cooperation from the
staff of the cremation ground. It has
been observed that social boycott was
much higher in rural areas as compared
to urban areas.
Knowledge and awareness
about HIV and AIDS
Through the sur vey of non-HIV
households, an attempt was made to
gauge the knowledge and awareness
about HIV and AIDS from a sample
of 3299 men and 2925 women in the
age-group of 20 to 60 years. A very high
percentage of the respondents reported
having heard about HIV and AIDS. Media,
especially television and radio, seem to
have played a key role in creating this
awareness. Although everyone has heard
about HIV and AIDS, not all of them have
the knowledge about other details like
whether HIV and AIDS transmission could
be prevented and where one should go
for voluntary testing. Women appear to
be less knowledgeable about information
related to HIV and AIDS as compared to
men. The survey of general population
clearly indicates that there is a gender
gap in not only knowledge about the
infection, but also in the attitude towards
PLWHA.
A little more than 50 percent of the
sample could mention all the modes of
transmission of HIV. The percentage of
people not knowing even a single mode
of transmission is very small, although it
is found to be higher in case of women
respondents.
A l t h o u g h a f a i r p e r c e n t a g e o f
respondents knew the various modes
The survey
indicates that
there is a gender
gap in knowledge
about the
infection and also
in the attitude
towards PLWHA
Executive Summary
xxvii