+ve, they give hope to others

BHUBANESWAR: They suffered and overcame the stigma associated with the AIDS and gave numerous others the courage to face it.Biswamitra Harpal of Balangir, founder of Balangir Network for People Living With HIV/AIDs (BNP+) has been battling the virus since 2006. A heavy vehicle driver, he had to give up his only source of income to undergo treatment for the virus. With hope, he took to medication with the help of his uncle when his family gave up. “Fortunate enough not to face the social stigma, I started BNP+ with seven others with an aim to create awareness among the people and save the infected persons,” said Harpal. “With more and more infected people joining or thronging BNP+ I found solace in the fact that I could be of some help to such people”, said Harpal. However, Panchu Bhola of Puri, founder of Puri Network for People Living with HIV/AIDs (PNP+), was not that lucky. Having faced it all, be it public stigma or denial of treatment in hospitals, Bhola survived to tell the tale. A tailor, he had migrated to Gujarat for better living but the place gave him the disease whose burden he had to carry lifelong. By the time he was diagnosed, he had passed on the virus to his wife and a son, who died later. When he approached the doctors here for help, what he received was an unexpected television coverage. “I lost the last shred of courage with that kind of massive coverage,” laments Bhola. This, however, gave him hope to start life anew through PNP+. After bringing people into the network, they started working towards the treatment of patients. The journey has not been smooth with the organisation members having to fight to get patients hospitalised.  The stigma though prevalent in society, people should understand that HIV is like any other infection, said Pramod Meherda, Project Director, Orissa State AIDS Control Society (OSACS).  He was speaking at the People Living with HIV Convention, organised by OSACS in collaboration with Indian Network for People Living with HIV.  Concern Worldwide Dublin Regional Director Lucia Ennis requested the participants to use this platform to raise the issues and concerns of PLHIV.