Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Deepavali gifts bring cheer to HIV positive children

Staff Reporter

A gesture of Society for Positive Mothers Development

COIMBATORE: A group of HIV positive children in and around Coimbatore received special Deepavali gifts from the Society for Positive Mothers Development, an association of HIV positive mothers, at Kasturba Gandhi De-addiction Centre here on Tuesday.

While some compared their gifts, others impatiently tugged at the strings binding the gifts. Some were aware of their HIV positive status. But, most were too young to understand the complications of the infection.

The children came with their mothers, who were also HIV positive. The association has been distributing clothes and sweets to its members for the last three years. It also sends these gifts to the homes of the families that could not make it to the function, says R. Meenakshi, society president.

The organisation's volunteers visit rural areas and spread awareness of HIV/AIDS and educate them on the Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission treatment.

Nearly 60 children of the members of the Society were HIV positive. All over the district, there were around 220 children who were either infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, Ms. Meenakshi said.

The society is funded by Aids Prevention and Control (APAC).

One of the main activities of the association is motivating pregnant women, especially in rural areas, to undergo voluntary testing. "If they test positive, treatment can be started as early as possible, and the child protected from infection," says K. Mahadevan, Assistant Professor, Sexually Transmitted Diseases Department of the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, who distributed the gifts.

"The stigma attached to HIV/AIDS is still prevalent in the city, and children are the ones who suffer more because of such discrimination." In a recent survey conducted among HIV negative patients who visited the hospital, Dr. Mahadevan learnt that a large percentage of normal people feared interacting with HIV positive people.

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