SANTHWANAM: A STORY FROM SURAKSHA PROJECT ON THE POSITIVE CARE OF CORE GROUP PLHAs

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SANTHWANAM: A STORY FROM SURAKSHA PROJECT ON THE POSITIVE CARE OF CORE
GROUP PLHAs

It has been often reported that Suraksha Projects (Targeted
Intervention Projects) in Kerala usually transfer their responsibility
of caring the positive stakeholders by referral to Prathyasa Kendrams
(Drop-in-Centres), if they identify HIV infected person from among
their target group members. Of course, such referrals are inevitable,
but unfortunately the reports shows that many of such referred high
risk group members flee from this service due to various reasons
including their personal guilt and environmental factors. Besides, the
Prathyasa team is not well equipped in serving the needs of high risk
group members. It is also a fact that the infrastructure available at
the Suraksha Projects do not allow them to provide survival support to
their HIV infected members and hence they simply neglect their role
after making referrals to Prathyasa. The story of infected persons in
PANTECH Suraksha Sex Workers Project, Kazaragode is different and is
replicable for others in the field.

As mentioned earlier, PANTECH also neglected the needs of HIV infected
sex workers in the beginning after referring them to Prathyasa
Kendram. PANTECH so far identified twelve infected female sex workers
from the District. Four among them showed the characteristics of
street based sex workers and the remaining were home based. Gradually
the Project realized that these persons were still active in sex work
as it was the major source of income for their survival. The field
staff of the project recognized that many such encounters were not
protected with condoms due to various factors including coercion from
the client, thirst for more money, etc.

The Project realized the emergency in intervening in the situation
that caused damage to the health of the infected and spread the
epidemic to the uninfected. The issue was discussed in the staff
meeting, CBO meeting and in the Project Steering Committee headed by
the Municipal Chairman. As a result, a decision was taken to follow
each of the identified positive cases regularly by field staff during
their regular field visit. The project asked staff members to make
regular house visits, if possible, to maintain therapeutic rapport
with them. The result of these efforts was amazing and they visited
the office when the Project invited them for a joint meeting with
Municipal Chairman. The meeting provided opportunity to ventilate
their feelings and express their attitudes developed after realizing
the presence of the dreadful micro-organism-the HIV, in their body.
Many of them shed tears while expressing their feelings before the
meeting. After hearing the pathetic situation of these miserable
women, the Municipal Chairman himself offered some support to these
women in terms of rice and pulses as food support.

After that, PANTECH decided to continue such support including food,
medicine, etc. by identifying likeminded philanthropists. It also
decided to organize monthly group meetings for them to share their
experiences and ventilate their ill feelings. Now all of them
voluntarily participate in these meetings as it consoles many of their
issues. PANTECH named the programme as ‘Santhwanam’ as it aimed to
console the HIV infected poor women who engaged in sex work.

Now the programme provides a variety of services to the HIV infected
female sex workers from the district. It includes transportation
facility to ART centres, support for CD4 testing, provision of food
and nutrition, vocational trainings, free medical check-up in the DIC,
etc. The programme supported eight of these women with income
generation programmes. Four of them collected Sewing machines from the
programme and started their own stitching centre, two of them procured
goats and the other two started petty shops using the support of the
Santhwanam Programme. ‘Noni’ a health tonic coasting Rs.1250/- is
distributed free of coast to these women by the Programme. The
programme also intervenes at a time of crisis that arises to the
infected person and provides physical and moral support to them.

PANTECH does not have any regular funding from any agency for this
programme. All these are run by the kind donations collected from
benevolent persons and institutions in the district by the
‘Santhawanam’ Programme of PANTECH. It helps to reduce the stigma and
discrimination of the Society towards HIV infected persons, especially
those who get infection through sexual route. Such supports in need
enhance the social commitment of the infected sex workers thus
equipping them to practice safe sex to protect their own and their
sexual partners’ health by adopting safe sex methods. It also equips
the Suraksha Project to address the needs of their infected
stakeholders and provide the services accordingly.