It has been 11 years since Vinita (name changed) came to know that she was HIV positive. It was a rude shock, made even more terrible by the unsympathetic counsellor of a government hospital. The counsellor had given Vinita three years. “Clearly, she knew nothing,” says Vinita, who now runs Positive Women’s Network and is in charge of 180 women and 65 children.

Archana — another Delhi-based woman— got to know of her positive status by accident. “I went to donate blood and thought I should get it checked before donating. I was then told that I am positive. At that time I did not have money to get tests done. I lost my job as a teacher in the coming months,” she adds.

Women like Archana and Vinita started picking up pieces of their lives after coming together under the Positive Women’s Network (PWN). On Monday, the organisation hosted a get-together for families in the Capital living with HIV to mark World AIDS Day.

According to WHO, approximately 2.5 million people in the country were living with HIV in 2006. Worldwide, approximately 33.2 million people have HIV. An estimated 2.5 million are newly infected with the virus every year.

Vinita recollects how she was told to check her HIV status after her husband tested positive. Soon, her daughter also tested positive. “When we went to the counsellor, she simply told us that both of us had tested positive and would die soon. She revealed the news to us as if it was a death sentence. We lost the first two to three years just battling depression,” adds Vinita.

... contd.