Sangli (Maharashtra): Anjana's husband died of AIDS and left her HIV positive, but Anjana and her family know that all is not lost and that she is not alone.
Says her father-in-law Bhaurao Male, "After we heard everything about AIDS we learnt that one must not discriminate. Everybody should live together."
Sangli has the second highest rate of AIDS in Maharashtra, but things are looking up. A number of NGOs in Sangli have been working to change lives of HIV positive people like Anjana.
The Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society says Sangli district has three per cent AIDS prevalence rate in a population of 20 lakh, but the percentage reportedly hasn't gone up in the last two years.
Awareness programmes are held every week so that people can ask questions and learn not to discriminate and NGOs admit that it's the attitude of the people that has made the big difference.
Take for example, the case of 30-year-old Sangeeta Ratti who is HIV positive, but was too shy to go in for treatment.
It was only when her neighbours convinced her that being HIV positive was not taboo that Sangeeta visited the local Sangli Civil Hospital for the free Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) there.
"My situation was getting worse so my neighbours forcibly took me to the hospital to be treated. It's only because they helped that I am alive today," says she.
Says Dr R V Bhagwat who is in-charge of the ART Centre at the Sangli Civil Hospital, "The most advantageous system of this hospital is that all the HIV positive patients are coming together with other patients like cardiac patients, TB patients, cancer patients. This gives people who are HIV positive a psychological advantage."
A few months ago, the ART treatment was available only once a week. However, now the staff are now putting in extra hours because of the enthusiasm and the co-operation of the residents.
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