AEGiS-14IAC: A faith-based tertiary hospital's perspective on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in India.

14th International AIDS Conference

Barcelona, Spain - July 7-12, 2002

A faith-based tertiary hospital's perspective on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in India.

Int Conf AIDS 2002 Jul 7-12; 14:(abstract no. E11422)

Shyamprasad KM, Williams JD, Shyamprasad S
Rainy Hospital, Chennai, India

BACKGROUND: The Rainy hospital is a faith based community hospital, which has continuously rendered quality and affordable health and medical care for the past 112 years. A gamut of services is offered including preventive, multi-speciality curative and rehabilitation catering primarily to the lower socio-economic population of the south Indian city of Chennai. Faced with the HIV/AIDS epidemic and growing number of sero-positive cases detected in the blood bank (1.7%) and 2% in the antenatal clinic, after informed consent, Rainy hospital got involved in programmes of detection, awareness, counseling and treatment of disorders associated with HIV.

METHOD: A study of a ten-year involvement of challenges faced by the institution was achieved by means of personal interviews with personnel involved in the care of PLWHA, through participatory interactive sessions and medical audit meetings. Attitudes and perceptions of the general and clientele population were obtained. RESULT: The findings focused on three major areas. Social acceptance of the disease both by the individual and the community is still negative. Typically, the women bear the brunt of discrimination, are often socially ostracized and struggle for sustenance. The economic burden on the individual is horrendous, there is neither Government nor are there private resources available for these individuals. Cultural findings included the fact that the society finds matters of sexuality difficult to discuss and is often brushed aside, however high-risk behaviour in certain working groups of males is accepted and expected

CONCLUSION: For the entire city of 6 million there is only a single 100-bedded government hospital for both HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis patients, the enormity of the epidemic requires that the private sector adequately respond to the challenge addressing not only the merely bio-medical but also the social, economic and cultural dimensions of the disease in a holistic manner.

Keywords: AEGIS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, HIV Infections, Disease Outbreaks, HIV Seropositivity, India, Hospitals, Tuberculosis, Sex Behavior, Community Health Services, Human, Female, Male, Economics

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E11422