AIDS-Women More Vulnerable,Bear Burden

Women more vulnerable to AIDS, bear burden of HIV+ in families.

BY: Annapurna Jha

New Delhi, July 23(2k6):Women and girls are not only more
vulnerable to HIV, they also have to bear an additional burden when someone in  the family is infected with HIV and the situation of HIV positive women is the most deplorable, according to a recent study.

The study on the ‘Socio-Economic Impact of HIV and AIDS in India,’
conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research
(NCAER) and supported by the National AIDS Control Organisation
(NACO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), found
that not only does women’s workload at home increase, but they are
also required to take up employment to supplement the lost earnings.
They, moreover, face discrimination on several counts.
The burden of caring the People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA)
is proportionately higher in the case of women, whether or not they
are themselves HIV positive, it pointed out.
The study also found that out of 882 caregivers in the families it
surveyed, 627 were women, 91 per cent of them in the 15-59 age
group. 20 per cent of the caregivers were themselves HIV positive,
against 16 per cent in the case of men. One-third of the caregivers
are employed, which means the burden can be extremely taxing.
In a clear indication of the gender gap in treatment seeking
behaviour, close to 9.7 per cent of illness episodes were left
untreated in the case of HIV and AIDS affected women, the study
found, nearly double the case of men.
Also, women were more likely to get treated in health facilities
run by the government or non-government organisations in comparison
to a greater proportion of men being treated at private nursing
homes. Only 29.8 per cent of the women surveyed went to private
health facilities for non-hospitalised illnesses, against 41.3 per
cent in the case of men. A similar picture can be seen in the case
of hospitalised illnesses.
”Improving women’s legal position relating to inheritance and
property ownership as well as maximising their access to credit and
their income-generating ability are needed to empower women,” the
study argues.
While HIV and AIDS have a negative impact on children from
affected households, it is the girl child who is more likely to be
withdrawn from school to cope up with household chores or supplement
the family income, it pointed out.
Though all PLWHAs face stigma and discrimination, the women face
the worst forms of discrimination. The study found that though the
attitude of families was quite encouraging, the percentage of women
reporting support from their families (70 per cent) was lower than
in the case of men (74 per cent). More women than men faced
discrimination like neglect, isolation and verbal teasing in both
urban and rural areas.
Households headed by HIV positive widows were found to be
economically worse than other HIV households, with an average income
at Rs 32,993 and Rs 51,111 respectively.
The average per capita expenditure by HIV positive widow
households was Rs 790 against Rs 1023 in the case of other HIV
households. Moreover, the savings of the HIV positive widow
households was lower and indebtedness higher than other HIV
ouseholds.
The study is based on a survey spread over six states- Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland.
It covered 2068 HIV households and 6224 non-HIV households. A total
of 2386 PLWHA were interviewed in the course of the survey.
//EOM//

Posted By: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna.