********************************************************** SAATHII Electronic Newsletter HIV NEWS FROM INDIA Source: 02/01/2008 Posted on: Thaindian, Kangla Online, Express India and The Indian Express. COMPILED BY: Jacob Boopalan, and L. Ramakrishnan SAATHII Chennai Office. Note: this compilation contains news items about HIV/AIDS published in the Indian media, as well as articles relevant to HIV/AIDS in India published internationally. Articles in this and previous newsletters may also be accessed at http://www.saathii.org/orc/elibrary =============================================================== 1. West Bengals sex workers remarkable fight against HIV Thaindian, December 30, 2007. http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/west-bengals-sex-workers-remarkable-fight-against-hiv_10010751.html 2. `I want to prove the worth of an HIV positive person`: Mr Manipur Kangla Online, December 31, 2007. http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=headline&newsid=40613&typeid=4 3. Biggest hope: To live longer Express India, December 31, 2007. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Biggest-hope-To-live-longer/256313/ 4. Rlys plans concessions for HIV patients The Indian Express, January 01, 2008. http://www.indianexpress.com/story/256206.html =============================================================== 1. West Bengals sex workers remarkable fight against HIV Thaindian, December 30, 2007. http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/west-bengals-sex-workers-remarkable-fight-against-hiv_10010751.html Kolkata: Sex workers of Sonagchi, the single largest brothel in India, are doing a remarkable work in prevention of HIV infection and human trafficking by organizing camps for sex workers of West Bengal and asking them to fight for their rights. Under the banner of Durbar Mahila Samannay Committee (DSMC), which organizes seminars, sex workers and others, who are directly or indirectly linked to the movement, discuss two major issues of HIV infection and human trafficking. West Bengal is the state with highest number of HIV infected patients. The estimated figure is 150 thousand. At least 9000 sex workers including 3000 flying sex workers are considered as the most vulnerable to HIV infection. Rajeev Shukla, Project Director, West Bengal State AIDS Prevention and Control Society said that Bengals open border with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, are the biggest challenge for HIV infection. Migrants from these countries carry the virus and as they are not traceable for treatment they further spread the disease. Activists at DSMC think that the awareness could only be spread through movement. When Use Condom campaign was launched there was hardly any taker for that. Sex workers were more vocal about violence against them, they said. Earlier police raids were so frequent that the numbers of clients were very poor. The fear of loosing them, used to stop us to ask for the use of condom. Police used to think sex workers encourage human trafficking which was an absolutely wrong notion, said Bharati Dey, who has been a sex worker for the last 30 years. To stop human trafficking in sex trade, a self-regulatory board has been established by the sex workers. The board works as a filter and it checks whether the new girl joining the trade is an adult or a minor. This board also tries to find out if any new girl joining the profession is under any pressure to do so. This has been very successful way to check human trafficking, police raids have also reduced considerably, said Swapna Gayen, who too is a sex worker in Sonagachi for over two decades. During the seminars, sex workers also discussed new amendments proposed in the existing laws, which they feel would criminalize sex work. There have already been protests against the new amendments, which criminalize clients of sex workers. Sex workers feel that such amendments would in return make the entire trade as a crime. It will criminalize the entire trade. The new amendments will force the trade to go underground, said a legal expert Tripti Tandon. =============================================================== 2. `I want to prove the worth of an HIV positive person`: Mr Manipur Kangla Online, December 31, 2007. http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=headline&newsid=40613&typeid=4 IMPHAL: "Drugs are actually man-made. I decided to triumph over and it was because of my decision that I am here today," said Khundrakpam Pradip Kumar. With a satisfied smile and confident shrug, 37 years old Pradip is the proud owner of the Mr Manipur 2007 title. Getting that coveted title is the dream of many young men who would spend most of their times developing muscles sweating at the gyms with dumbbells and exercising equipments. When most of the sportspersons leave the field of active sports after knowing their HIV status, Pradip said, "I came out to take part in competitions and create a place for myself in the history of body building. I want to show how much an HIV positive person can do." Born to Khundrakpam Memma and Kalachand of Sagolband Khamnam Leirak, Pradip was a fitness freak from a very early age. During his school days, Pardip got third position in state level wrestling championship in 1985 and received the gold medal in the state level power lifting in 1987. During his growing up days, Pradip started using heroin and by 1987 he started injecting heroin. Pradip graduated in mathematics honours from Utkal University, Orissa. However he did not complete his post graduation. "Whenever I come home during vacation, I used to meet my same friends and give in to substance dependency. But when I go back to the University, I maintain abstinence. I decided to leave dependency in 1992-93. By 1994 I completely stopped using any kind of drugs," shared Pradip. It was only in 2000 that Pradip came to know his HIV status. He said that many of his friends with whom he used to share needles died but he never suspected that he could be HIV positive. "I thought all those sayings about getting HIV positive through needle-syringe sharing were baseless hearsays," he said. After prolonged hospitalization and treatment for gland TB at RIMS, Pradip was finally told about his status. Pradip recalled, "The PG doctors used to surround me like a guinea pig. I often heard them saying `sero-positive`. Finally I asked one of the PG doctor what sero-positive means, he asked me if I would mind. When I said I won`t mind, he told me `you are HIV positive`. I just said `oh`. That `oh` said all for me. I thought all my dreams and aspirations were dead." But some dreams survived and one summer afternoon Pradip entered the local gym ? Eagle Guide Gym. He said, "I was very apprehensive, not knowing how the youngsters there would react to my presence. That day I did some free-hand exercise. I started going to the gym around noon time to avoid others and practice. I practiced regularly till 2005. One martial arts student told me to take part in body building competitions. I was encouraged and took part in the Mr Manipur Contest 2006 in senior 60 kg category. I got the second position." Having tasted little bit of sweet victory, Pradip started practicing more regularly. He said that after some self-initiated research, he came to know about the importance of supplementary diets. However since he was buying ART during those days, buying supplementary diets was almost impossible. "The cost of supplementary food came to as high as 16 to 17 thousand. I didn`t have the equipments to practice for bigger competitions," Pradip said. With small-small help, Pradip took part in the 2007 Mr Manipur competition organized by AMBA and became the proud owner of the Mr Manipur title in senior category. Pradip said, "I look at my medal daily with pride. Even a normal healthy person cannot get it easily. As an HIV positive person, winning that title is a challenge. All the odds were against me. Even my doctor advised me not to exert myself too much physically. But I want to excel in body building. I want my positive brothers and sisters to look forward to life and not to lose hopes." Pradip is targeting to take part in the Senior Mr India competition at Uttar Pradesh in March 2008 and then to take part in international competitions. He said that lots of encouragements are coming from different sectors. However, along with encouraging words, this future pride of Manipur requires dietary supplements and modern equipments for his practice. He said softly, "I am sure about my goal but the fact is that I practice with the few traditional equipment. When other people are taking 2-3 scoops of protein supplement, I take just 2 scoops only twice. If the people of Manipur are behind me, I think I can achieve my goal." =============================================================== 3. Biggest hope: To live longer Express India, December 31, 2007. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Biggest-hope-To-live-longer/256313/ Mumbai: The new year is bringing new hope for me, of living and being able to raise my seven-year-old daughter. I want to live long enough to see my daughter grow up. I want to live for her. I hope we start getting the new medicines soon.” For the frail and shriveled Sulabha Naik, an HIV-positive mother, the big new hope comes from the second line of drugs all set to roll out from the Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) centres. They will help her body contain the deadly virus and perhaps stop her from moving to the AIDS-level. Though this single parent’s CD4 count — used to assess immune status, susceptibility to opportunistic infections, need for ART and for defining AIDS (if CD4 count is less than 200) — is over 600, she has suffered severe weight loss for a year now and she is suffering from side effects caused by two drugs she was consuming. “I cannot afford to take the medicines from a private setup. I hope the government can provide us with the medicines through the ART centre. Sassoon Hospital had made a list of people who have developed side effects for the drugs and I am on that list,” says Sulabha, who works as a peer educator in Pune. Mumbai’s JJ Hospital will be the first in the region to offer the second line drugs. A resident of Pune, she became aware of her HIV positive status in 2000 and joined the ART regime in 2004 at Sassoon Hospital. Her husband, also HIV positive, died a couple of years back, while her daughter is negative. During the initial phase of her disease, she even attempted suicide as family and friends suddenly turned them into outcastes. Now, with the news of the second line of drugs to roll out at JJ Hospital and at Tambaram Hospital in Tamil Nadu, she doesn’t mind making a monthly trip to Mumbai. Earlier this year, the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) announced the commencement of the second line of drugs after patients reported resistance to the first line of drugs being given since 2004 through ART centres across the country. According to NACO guidelines, there will be two sets of beneficiaries, one where first line therapy has failed to work and the other where there is a planned discontinuation due to side effects of one or more drugs from the first line regimen. Sulabha, like hundreds of others in the country, is waiting for the NACO programme to roll out this month in Mumbai and Tamil Nadu. In Chennai, S Manjula is waiting for the second line of drugs for her husband. “You know, all the efforts in providing the first line of drugs for patients like us will be wasted if we do not shift to the second line. Even though I want to, I cannot afford to shift to a private setup for the medicines,” she says. The criteria to select patients for the second line drugs have also been drawn up. A patient whose CD4 count falls below the base line after a high or persistently remains less than 100 is eligible, as also those who develop opportunistic infections and whose viral load count is 1,000 copies/ml. “We are to start the second line of drugs in January. The pre-screening of the candidates is going on. We have not made the entire list yet,” said Dr Alaka Deshpande, who heads the ART Centre at JJ Hospital. “This comes as a blessing. Patients are in need of the second line of drugs. We are waiting to understand how the plan for the second line of drugs will be rolled out in the state,” said an AVERT society official. “If patients get it through the government ART, it makes a difference in terms of finance. If they can save on the expenditure on medicines, they can spend on nutrition.” “The second line of drugs are now needed as doctors tell us that there are more than ten per cent patients who are resistant to the first line here,” said P Kousalya, president of the Positive Women’s Network from Chennai. She, however, added that some centres started by the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society were already offering the second line of drugs. “There are perhaps two-three reasons which spell the need for the second line of drugs. One could be adherence problems among the patients for the drugs, which are combination pills. Second is resistance to the regime that is being given. And the third would be toxicity (side effects) of the drug in the patient,” said Dr Dilip Mathai of the Christian Medical College, Chennai, one of the members of the team that recommended the medicines to be included in the second line of drugs. “I know that I have to change the medicines, but I don’t know what to change. After knowing the resistance test results I will know which class and domain to select from,” says Sulabha. With the ray of hope on the horizon for her, Sulabha now wants the sun. She wants the medicine to cure HIV, so that “we can also hope to be rid of the disease and not just look forward to living as long as we take medicines.” =============================================================== 4. Rlys plans concessions for HIV patients The Indian Express, January 01, 2008. http://www.indianexpress.com/story/256206.html Lalu’s next budget may include a 75 per cent waiver on rail tickets for AIDS victims NEW DELHI: The year 2008 may well ring in some good news for around 2.5 million people living with HIV and AIDS in the country. Indian Railways is considering offering fare concessions, as high as 75 per cent, to HIV/AIDS patients travelling on its network. The move, quietly in the works at Rail Bhavan, is being regarded as one of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's big-ticket ideas for the forthcoming Rail Budget in February. While the original demand relates to offering fare concessions to HIV/AIDS patients in a bid to facilitate their travel to the National AIDS Control Organisation's (NACO) Antiretroviral Treatment (ATR) Centres offering treatment at subsidised rates at 127 locations across the country, Railways, it is reliably learnt, are mulling granting a blanket concession allowing HIV/AIDS patients to avail of the benefit whenever they travel on trains, irrespective of the purpose of their travel. "The demand to offer concessions in fare to HIV and AIDS patients has been there for the past couple of years with even the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) seeking the benefit for these people. However, it is for the first time that the Ministry has taken up the proposal and started working out the modalities," a senior railway official told The Indian Express. With the next Rail Budget expected to be UPA Government's last, officials said that the move, considering it's populist potential, is almost set to make it to Lalu's Rail Budget speech. Indian Railways already offer fare concessions ranging between 50-75 per cent to people having a host of medical conditions. Those covered under the concessions being offered include orthopaedically handicapped, paraplegic, blind, mentally challenged, those suffering from hearing and speech disorders, patients suffering from cancer, tuberculosis, leprosy, thalassemia, heart and kidney disorders and ostomy patients. Except for a few categories, these concessions are made available to one escort per patient. A person suffering from cancer currently gets a 75 per cent fare concession while travelling in Second Class, Sleeper Class, First Class, AC Chair Car and AC 3-tier and a 50 per cent concession while travelling in AC 2-Tier and AC-1 Tier. Similarly, those suffering from TB or non-infectious leprosy get a flat 75 per cent concession, irrespective of the class of travel. Also, while those suffering from cancer, TB, leprosy and thalassemia are offered fare concessions only while travelling for treatment or periodic check-up, all the other categories are offered these concessions irrespective of their travel purposes. =============================================================== Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in the above articles are those of the respective newspapers, not those of SAATHII.