Human Uplift Trust

HIV/AIDS CARE

Perambalur is a district of 1.2 million people. It was identified by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, as a locale with elevated incidence of HIV. Until last year only the Government Headquarters Hospital provided medicine for opportunistic infections and there was no specialized HIV/AIDS treatment available in Perambalur.

In April 2005, HUT opened its first Community Care Centre (CCC), which has had remarkable success as a medical facility. The centre’s staff team has served more than 1125 clients in fourteen months, offering care for opportunistic infections through medicine, diet and referrals. When necessary, the doctors refer patients to larger medical facilities for tests or treatment. The greatest benefit of the centre is that positive people can receive medical treatment in a safe environment, without fear of discrimination.

At HIV hospital

CCC Services
Medical Care:
Ten beds are available for patients that need to be admitted (there are usually 17 or 18 in a month), but an additional 65-75 outpatients visit the centre a month.

Counselling:
A counsellor is available to inform people living with HIV about ways to maintain their physical and emotional health. Approximately 80 to 85 clients come for counselling each month.

Nutritional Support:
The cook prepares a balanced diet of rice, vegetables, greens, milk, eggs and protein powders to help build the strength of the patients who have been admitted to the centre.

Social Support Activities:
In between rest and meals, the patients are often found in the halls of the centre chatting with each other about their health and their families. We also facilitate support group meeting, nutrition training and social activities for the clients and staff.

Community Outreach:
Three outreach workers meet with community members to educate them about HIV/AIDS and to help HIV positive people access the centre’s services. They ensure that community leaders, elected officials and other service providers are informed about the complexities of HIV/AIDS. Through these community outreach activities, HUT is building advocates for the cause of people affected by HIV/AIDS. The outreach staff team also perform 40 to 50 home visits each month to help equip families with information about nutrition, stigma, psychosocial needs, etc.

Read about our clients Lalitha and Raju. Lalitha’s Story Lalitha is a 45 year old woman who lost her husband to AIDS a few years ago. She suspected that she too might have HIV when lesions began appearing on her skin. Her suspicion was confirmed and she was tested HIV positive. A lesion that developed on her eye threatened the loss of her vision. She visited several doctors who recommended treatment and even surgery, but when she revealed that the lesions might be a symptom of HIV, they withdrew their offers of assistance. Four months ago, Lalitha heard about Human Uplift Trust’s Community Care Centre in Perambalur for people living with HIV/AIDS. There, Drs. Raja and Indra perform full medical examinations and routine check for patients. The doctors immediately admitted Lalitha, put her on a full course of antibiotics and supplemented her diet with nutritious food. Within days, Lalitha’s lesions, even the one endangering her vision, began to clear up. Through the Community Care Centre assistance, Lalitha was able to get her CD4 count tested. Her results were dismal – a mere 161. Lalitha was distraught when she came to know the seriousness of her CD4 test result. But with moral and even monetary support from HUT she was able to get over her depression and go to the nearby ART centre. There, after the necessary testing she qualified to receive ART. Under the strict and caring vigil of the doctors ,she is taking ART regularly and has regained most of her lost physical and mental strength. Lalitha loves the Community Care Centre and the quality of care she receives there. For the past four months, she has spent anywhere from three to five days there each week. As a sick person, isolated from her family in Kerala, she enjoys the network of support from the staff and other clients. In spite of her ups and downs in health, she volunteers her time as a peer educator, letting people in her community know about the undiscriminating danger of HIV/AIDS and the need to dispose of stigma and reach out to those who have been affected by the destructive disease.

	Raju Raju is a new client at the Community Care Centre for people living with HIV/AIDS in Perambalur. He was admitted for a swelling in his legs which got so severe that he had to start walking with a cane. It has been difficult for this 46-year-old man to adjust to a slower pace of life. He is accustomed to working his fields of chillies and maize. Even in slow seasons, he finds work in Perambalur restaurants to find the means to provide for his family. For over a week he has been at the centre, gaining strength, but still moving sluggishly. Raju only learned he was HIV positive a month ago. He was working in a restaurant that his doctor frequented. His physician noticed his quick decline in health and recommended that he come for a visit. The general check-up included a tuberculosis and HIV test, both which came back positive. How did Raju become HIV positive? He assumes it might have been through his mistress who died five years ago, but now his greatest concern is for his wife and his daughter who is studying in 10th Standard. Fortunately, his wife has not tested positive. The centre has been comforting. His wife visits him daily and he enjoys the support of the nurses and staff, nutritious tasty food and clear airy rooms. Raju enjoys the approach that Dr. Indhra takes with him and appreciates her warm bedside manner. He has had several conversations with Manohar, the centre’s counsellor and has learned about the nature of HIV and how it is spread. In the quiet and rest that he has found in his eight days at the centre, Raju has spent a lot of time thinking about how HIV has the potential to cripple Perambalur. People routinely deny the realities of the disease and hold on to misconceptions. People ignorantly believe that HIV can be spread through speaking with or touching an infected person. Raju hopes that people of Perambalur would gain greater understanding of HIV/AIDS and begin protecting themselves. Raju is a hardworking, entrepreneurial and resourceful man. He explained that when he regains his mobility, he would like to open a petty shop to keep him busy and to earn household income.