“I was devastated when my husband died of AIDS. It happened within days. He had an attack of TB and we took him to the Panchkula General Hospital, but even before we could tell him what had happened, he was gone. I was in a state of shock and got my daughter and myself tested. My worst fears came true,” says Baljinder, who contemplated suicide after she discovered that she and her daughter were HIV positive.

More than the infection, it was the stigma which was bothering her and the future of her daughter who has not gained weight in the past three years.

There was a time when the very thought of remarriage invited wrath from the community. But she fought society to put her life together. Working as a wholesaler in Karnal, Krishna Lal has given her daughter all the love she needs.

For her part, Baljinder keeps busy attending meetings of the Indian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (INP +) of which she is an active member. She will represent Haryana in a demonstration which the INP + will hold outside Parliament tomorrow. The members will be demanding free second line treatment for HIV/AIDS, which presently costs Rs 15,000.

“I keep smiling because I have reasons to smile. Because I am happy, I am healthy and I don’t need antiretroviral therapy. But not everyone can be happy as isolation can cause tremendous emotional misery. I got lucky, but not everyone does,” she says. Baljinder and her husband are inspiring others like them to remarry.

Much-needed cure launched
Tripti Nath
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 30
Determined to prolong and improve the quality of lives of over two lakh children living with HIV/AIDS in India, the government has launched a much-needed National Paediatric Programme on the eve of the World AIDS Day.

The first phase of the programme aims to put 10,000 children on anti-retroviral

treatment for life. The programme has been launched through the National AIDS Control Programme in collaboration with the Indian Academy of Paediatrics, UNICEF, WHO and the Clinton Foundation.

According to UNIADS, about 2,02,000 children in India are estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS.

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi launched the initiative by inaugurating the Anti Retroviral Therapy Centre in Kalavati Saran Hospital here on Thursday in the presence of former US President William J. Clinton and French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Philippe Douste Blazy.

Delivering the keynote address at the Swaran Jayanti auditorium in Lady Hardinge Medical College here , President Clinton, an indophile, complimented India for demonstrating exemplary leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS. President Clinton who set up the William J. Clinton Foundation in 2002 to fulfil key global concerns including HIV/AIDS, voiced concern over lack of ART treatment to children living with HIV/AIDS. “How much has been done for children who are living with HIV for no fault of their own?” he asked.

President Clinton said that only one in four children in developing countries have access to ART.

“This is a great day but we have a long way to go,” said President Clinton. He said that there is need for a commitment on the World AIDS Day (December 1) to ensure that all those who need ART get access to it. The initiative is significant as it will facilitate setting up of seven region paediatric HIV/AIDS centres with assistance from the Global Fund and Clinton Foundation.

After the government started a special drive in September to identify and increase access to care and treatment in five States and evaluated nearly 5000 children living with HIV/AIDS for ART eligibility, it found that 1,770 were in need of ART. Sources in the government say that this is the first initiative of its kind in the world to reach out to children who may be left out. The government has succeeded in increasing the number of children on ARV from 1800 to 3600.

The Clinton Foundation has facilitated access to treatment by providing paediatric drugs for 10,000 children and has implemented a comprehensive HIV/AIDS care and support programme in nine States. These include Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Nagaland, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Bihar.

The initiative promises introduction of infant diagnosis of HIV by using Dried Blood Spot Technology (DBS) with the use of filter paper which can be sent for testing to reference laboratories. It will also provide free CD4 cell count test for all children living with HIV. The test otherwise costs Rs 1000. Most welcome is the introduction of specific Paediatric anti retyroviral formulations available as fixed dose combinations which follow weight and body surface area based dosing. To address the nutritional needs of such children, the initiative promises nutritional supplentation for all children on ART.

Describing the National Paediatric HIV/AIDS Initiative as the “most welcome step forward'', Sonia Gandhi said, “I want to convey to Mr Clinton and through him to the international community our government's determination and commitment to expand our AIDS programme.