Drop-in Centre brings hope to HIV patients

"Suddenly I lost my hope for life. I was particularly worried about my 11-year son; I thought he might also be infected with the virus. But Allah is kind and he is well." said the middle-aged housewife, who was infected by her husband.

Rina's husband, a migrant worker in the Middle East, died of AIDS in 2001. The same year, she was diagnosed positive with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), the virus of deadly AIDS, after going through several blood tests.

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"My husband knew nothing of the disease before his death. Even I could not tell the truth to his parents. Now I'm also carrying the virus, but cannot share my agony with anybody. I believed it's something to hide from other people," Rina told me at a Drop-in Centre, established for the HIV/AIDS patients in the city.

But unlike Rina, Joy, who is also an HIV positive, did not try to hide what he was suffering from. He told his parents about the affliction and asked them to take the matter with composure.

Joy, 32, used to work at a hotel in Mumbai, the Indian city formerly known as Bombay, for six years. He returned to Bangladesh five months ago and was suffering from jaundice. He had his blood tested and was detected HIV positive.

Dealing with the news of being infected with HIV was not easy for both Joy and Rina in a conservative society like Bangladesh. But now they found a way to get rid of their mental agony thanks to an aid agency.

They are now working as 'peer workers' with HIV positive Support Network of CARE Bangladesh.

"I got back my confidence and overcame all fears after getting all kinds of support from CARE Bangladesh. Now I'm helping other HIV positives in dealing with their problems. I help them see the doctors and extend counseling support," said a visibly confident Rina.

But all the HIV patients so far detected in Bangladesh are not as lucky as Rina and Joy. Since they do not always get proper medicare facilities or cannot discuss their problems, they are often neglected by relatives and feel reduced in esteem to their neighbours.

According to a statistics available with the Virology Department of Health and Family Welfare Ministry, some 248 people have been detected with HIV positive in Bangladesh till 2002. Twenty of them have died.

Of the total infected people, 198 (78 per cent) are male and 50 (22 per cent) female. The infected include 111 migrant workers, 25 housewives, seven children and seven sex workers while the profession of 88 others could not be known.

"It's a reality that we'll have a short life. We won't be able to arrange for our children's future education. But death will be less painful for us if the government assures us that our children will be looked after," said Rina.

Experts say Bangladesh is becoming a high-risk zone for HIV/AIDS due to a spread of the disease in neighbouring countries like India. The disease, according to them, can spread quickly through smugglers, truck drivers, illegal immigrants, travellers and also sex workers.