ActionAid imparts training to link workersBHUBANESWAR | Monday, March 15, 2010 | Email | Print |

BHUBANESWAR | Monday, March 15, 2010 | Email | Print | 


ActionAid imparts training to link workers

PNS | Balangir

During the six-daylong training organised by the ActionAid society here from February 22-26, its link workers (LWs) working in the rural areas to prevent HIV/AIDS from this KBK district, were asked to upgrade their communication skills in a bid to encourage social inclusion of more and more persons living with HIV (PLHIV).

It is quite common to find HIV persons facing social discrimination and stigma more in rural areas than in the urban pockets and the ordeal of a PLHIV is untold and his/her social inclusion is a daunting challenge for the social workers.

“Detection of HIV positive is a daunting task and it needs skillful and effective communications,” said a resource person adding as the link worker deals with people of all sections of the society, his/her communication skill needs to be improved.

“We were provided necessary motivation skills so that we could motivate people effectively and provide the psychological support to a PLHIV besides rendering the necessary care and treatment as provided to other patients,” informed a worker at the end of the six-day training.

“Besides being oriented, the LWs also shared their problems,” said another resource person adding against the target of 100 villages, the LWs are working in 133 villages of the seven blocks in the district here.

“I personally explained about the HIV/AIDS in one our caste based meeting which was listened,” informed a woman LW.

Although several structural and formal organisations are working for HIV prevention, several informal organisations like jatisamaj (caste based society) kirtan groups, SHGs in the caste-dominated rural society are also found to be playing a crucial role in spreading the message ofHIV/AIDS and its prevention in the rural belt, sources at the training programme informed.

Balangir district, already known for its poverty, has also earned a dubious distinction of being one of the high-prevalent HIV districts in the State, thanks to the large scale migration, illiteracy, ignorance and absence of treatment facilities let alone timely detection.

“More than 200 high risk group persons have been identified meanwhile and this is a good beginning keeping in view of our limited resources,” claimed a trainer adding after the ‘roll out’ period of the project we are on the ‘action phase.’

ADMO BP Guru, Nilakantha Sandh, Brahmananda Sahu, Nanda Kishore Sandh, Rupam Mahapatra, Beauty Sharma of Bhubaneswar-based NGO Saathi, RK Prusty, Dr DS Mahanty, Prakash Kumar Barik (ActionAid) and Subham of Sakha provided training to the link workers. 

AIDS in disguise of marriage blesses tribal girl with HIV BHUBANESWAR | Thursday, March 4, 2010 | Email | Print |

BHUBANESWAR | Thursday, March 4, 2010 | Email | Print | 


AIDS in disguise of marriage blesses tribal girl with HIV

Pioneer News Service | Balangir

Nineteen-year-old Dukhi (pseudonym), never in her wildest dream, might have imagined that despite hailing from a poor tribal family, she would be exposed to such an ordeal in life. Instead of being blessed with a child, she has been blessed with the fatal HIV for no fault of hers and now she is a Person Living with HIV (PLHIV) in medical parlance.

Dukhi had married 22-year-old Dukha (pseudonym) of Atarla village in May last year. According to sources, Dukha had already been warned by doctors not to marry as he was already detected HIV positive. Dukha had been a migrant labour. However, ignoring medical advice, he married Dhukhi.

After marriage, Dukha migrated to Punjab for work while his newly-wed wife returned to her paternal house.

Dukha’s father-in-law was somehow tipped off his son-in-law’s confidential medical report and he preferred to go in for a test of his daughter.

Unfortunately, Dukha died in Punjab in January this year and Dukhi had to return to her in-law’s house for performing the last rites.

Jamuna Pradhani, one of the link workers working with the Link Worker Project implemented by Action Aid to tackle HIV/AIDS in Balangir, came to know about Dukha and she thought of meeting her young wife.

She visited Atarla village and met Dukhi. It had not been an easy task for Jamuna to convince Dukhi to go for an HIV test when the funeral rites of her husband was on. However, Jamuna managed to convince Dukhi’s family members and she was brought to Titilagarh hospital based ICTC centre by bicycle of a local Anganwadi worker.

As anticipated, her blood test report revealed positive and as she was in a very weak condition, she was referred to Burla-based VSS Medical College and Hospital after being tagged with a local NGO working in the area. She has been undergoing Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) treatment there.

“We are considering to rehabilitate her,” said an NGO activist working in the HIV/AIDS sector here.

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People now volunteer for HIV testing in rural Balangir/BHUBANESWAR | Saturday, January 23, 2010 |

BHUBANESWAR | Saturday, January 23, 2010 | Email | Print | 


People now volunteer for HIV testing in rural Balangir

Pioneer News Service | Balangir

Asking a person to give his blood for HIV/AIDS testing and that too in a village is a tricky proposition which is likely to evoke a negative response.

However, much to the pleasant surprise, around one hundred of villagers, including pregnant women, migrant labourers, students and TB patients turned up voluntarily to get their blood tested for HIV at a camp held at village Salepali in Chandanbhati Gram Panchayat, 10 km from here, earlier this week. A meeting of Panchayati Raj representatives of Chandanbhati GP was held wherein they were sensitised about HIV/AIDS and its prevention.

Ward member of village Salepali Chandrashekhar Dharua, who attended the meeting, laid stress on voluntarily testing for a HIV-free village. The meeting was sponsored by Action Aid, which is implementing the Link Worker Scheme (LWS) in Balangir district.

Besides holding a rally on the World AIDS Day to sensitise villagers about HIV/AIDS, a series a meetings were also organised at the village. There is no treatment for the dreaded disease and the only remedy is prevention, said a Link Worker, Panchannan.

Members of Jaibada Deo Adivasi Yubak Parishad held a meeting and sensitised villagers about the blood checking camp and the villagers agreed to get their blood tested, said president of the Parishad Baishnab Pradhan. Anganwadi and Asha workers also motivated pregnant and other women of the village to go in for HIV testing.

As villagers are facing difficulty in going to Balangir for blood test, they demanded holding of a camp in the village. As a result, the camp was held in the village.

Before going for blood test, the villagers were counselled about why their blood would be tested and what HIV/AIDS is. They were advised for blood test again in the next three months at the ICTC Balangir for future confirmation. This is because a person even if contacting HIVthe test result would come out negative as the window period of HIV/AIDS is three months and only after donating blood or checking blood in next three months a case of HIV/AIDS infection would be confirmed.

Baba (22), (name changed), along with his wife, volunteered for blood test as he believes prevention is the best method. A 14-year-old boy, Krish (name also changed), also turned up for blood test. Besides, a TB patient too came for his blood checking.

All the collected blood samples would be put to further test through rapid kits, explained a counsellor, Alok.

However, the crucial aspect of this blood test lies in organising another such camp in the village for a second checking of their HIV status and removing the fear of HIV/AIDS, failing which the entire effort would end in vain. Will the villagers test their blood status again? Time will say.

Rural women volunteer to give blood for HIV testsBHUBANESWAR | Saturday, December 19, 2009 | Email | Print |

BHUBANESWAR | Saturday, December 19, 2009 | Email | Print | 


Rural women volunteer to give blood for HIV tests

Sudhir Mishra | Balangir

Ask anybody to donate blood; it would evoke more hesitation and less willingness among the urban people, not to speak about the rural people who usually groin under ignorance.

If you mention HIV/AIDS, it would evoke a disdainful look with stigma and social discrimination looming, rather than expression of sympathy.

And if you ask anybody to go for testing of blood for HIV/AIDS in rural areas, it is a difficult task and it is more difficult task with rural women.

According to reports, in such a backdrop, on the demand of people, a counselling and testing camp for HIV/AIDS was held at Deogaon, 20 km from here, recently. A total of 45 villagers, including 25 women and 20 men of Deogaon, Sagarpali and Kacharpalia villages gave their blood for HIV/AIDS testing.

We held a counselling jointly at Bhanjapada and Deogaon few days ago and counselled them about HIV/AIDS/ TB and other contagious diseases, said Kiranbala Satpathy and Sitanshu Patnaik of Action Aid’s link worker scheme. We informed the district authorities and requested them to hold such a camp, said Satpathy further.

Earlier pregnant women had to go to the Balangir district headquarters hospital to check their pregnancy status and detect any type of infection. During pregnancy it is very risky, expensive and cumbersome to move to the hospital situated far away, pointed out a woman. With this camp, pregnant women of the villages could avail the facility at their doorstep and check their pregnancy status and common infections, she said further.

Before drawing their blood they were adequately counselled about HIV/AIDS and they also agreed to give blood for testing. Besides this we also counselled them to get their blood tested for HIV again after three months as during the window period of three months HIV detection is not possible. If a person’s blood is tested once again after three months, detection of HIVwould be possible with accurate result, explained a volunteer present in the camp.

I personally agreed to their sensible views and readily came forward to give my blood forHIV/AIDS testing, said Kartik, a local youth without hesitation.

The counselling and testing facilities for the villagers should be extended to at least each primary health centre (PHC) at the block level. Unless this service is provided to people, detection of HIV/AIDS and its prevention would not be possible and effective, an NGO worker pointed out.

Promotion of female condom a source of amusement in Balangir/Sudhir Mishra | BalangirBHUBANESWAR | Sunday, December 6, 2009 | Email | Print |

BHUBANESWAR | Sunday, December 6, 2009 | Email | Print | 


Promotion of female condom a source of amusement in Balangir

Sudhir Mishra | Balangir

While talk on sex is still a taboo in the society, the promotion drive for the female condom by the National AIDS Control Society (NACO) here drew some hilarious comments.

When the promotion vehicle stopped for a while at College Chowk, people looked around it with curiosity. “With its availability the women might misuse it. The whole world is heading towards a disaster with the women folk now getting a condom to use,” remarked a person after viewing the vehicle and pamphlets.

What would be our society? Already we are witnessing the consequence of modernisation and how the girls are behaving today. Earlier society was the better with restraints being the key and it is even valid today. We didn’t know this things earlier, quipped a person with sheepish smile.

However, a NGO worker working for said HIV/AIDS has a feminine bias. When a person is infected with HIV, the immediate blame is put on the concerned woman even though the case might have occurred from a different source and the person might have acquired the HIV virus from other source like intravenous drug users and men having sex with men. While the male person has choice of use of condoms; the female partners have less choice.

The condoms by NACO would not be accessible to many women, due to its pricing. To make matters worse according to reports, the HIV prevalence in rural areas was found to 57 per cent. How do you expect that this would reach the rural women to check the prevention ofHIV, AIDS in rural areas, questioned a NGO worker? 

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Shortage of lab technicians hits HIV diagnosis in Balangir Sudhir Mishra | BalangirBHUBANESWAR | Wednesday, December 2, 2009 |

BHUBANESWAR | Wednesday, December 2, 2009 | Email | Print | 


Shortage of lab technicians hits HIV diagnosis in Balangir

Sudhir Mishra | Balangir

Even as the whole world observed World AIDS Day on December 1 with ‘Universal Access and Human Rights’ as this year’s theme in order to provide equal rights, opportunity, entitlement and healthcare facilities to people living with HIV/AIDS so that they can lead a dignified life, a cursory glance at the healthcare facilities available for people living with HIV/AIDS in Balangir reveals large-scale vacancies of laboratory technicians who ultimately and clinically declare whether a person is infected with HIV or not.

According to sources, out of the 14 blocks of the district, only five Integrated Counseling and Testing Centres (ICTCs) located at Balangir, Titlagarh, Patnagarh, Kantabanji and Chudapali are having a counsellor as well as a laboratory technician.

In the district headquarters hospital, there is only one lab technician who looks after both the sections of the ICTC. While ICTC-I looks after blood testing of male patients, ICTC-II looks after all ante-natal cases of pregnant women.

As a single lab technician in the hospital manages both the sections of the centre, the work load on him is very high and whenever he goes on leave the entire unit comes to a grinding halt.

Besides this, in Tureikela, Saintala and Tusura there is only counsellor which puts further burden on the lab technician of the nearby centre. Ironically, in the migrant-prone blocks of Loisingha, Muribahal and Khaprakhol, posts of both the counsellor and lab technician are lying vacant.

“As there is no testing facility, we are not getting any report of HIV-positive cases though the possibility is very high. Mere counselling is not enough and it is futile to expect poor persons to go to distant places to test their blood. When a poor person comes to ICTC after much counseling but returns empty handed or goes without testing, it becomes very difficult to bring him again to the testing centre mainly due to pessimism, poverty and other factors,” said an NGO worker. We regularly get reports of people returning back without having the necessary tests, he said further.

This is the sorry state of affairs when more and more HIV-positive cases are being detected after referral by link workers to nearby ICTCs after counseling. After the intervention of link workers of Action Aid, a number of referral cases are coming up even from areas like Tureikela, Belpada, Tusra and Gudvela blocks where requisite healthcare facilities are not available.

In the migrant-prone Belpada block there is only one counsellor. The post of laboratory technician is lying vacant. People from this block referred for HIV testing either go to Kantabanji or Patnagarh. The link workers scheme advocates for quality and effective health services. As a result, the district health administration and district AIDS prevention and control unit have taken alternative measures like deputation of technicians from other ICTCs.

“To partially ease their burden, we have imparted training in HIV blood testing to malaria technicians who are now able to manage emergency situations, said an official here. It is an ad hoc approach and permanent posting of personnel is very much required, commented an NGO activist. The appointment is done by Orissa State AIDS Council. A total of 135 posts of lab technicians are lying vacant in the six high-prevalence districts of Odisha,” disclosed a medical official.

The ART centre would come up by the end of this month, informed CDMO PC Sahu. Moreover, a community care centre would also be opened, he added. Already 247 people have been identified as HIV-positive and 35 have died of AIDS in the district. This is nothing but just the tip of the iceberg. Once NGOs involved in targeted intervention projects work properly, the number would go up to 1,500, warned Sahu.

Balangir district has been put in the ‘A’ category of high HIV-prevalence districts of Odisha in view of high migrant population, lack of awareness and ignorance and absence of treatment facilities. While crores of rupees are being spent on awareness, the vacant posts are not being filled up immediately. Once the vacant posts are filled up it would go a long way in detection ofHIV, treatment of infected persons and awarding them a chance to live as guaranteed in the constitution, pointed out an NGO worker.
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Meet on mainstreaming of response to AIDS held 

11/20/09

Balangir: Zilla Parishad president Bhanumati Rout inaugurated a workshop on mainstreaming of response to HIV and AIDS here. The workshop was organised by the Mainstreaming Resource Unit, Bhubneswar along with local NGO Sahara. Bhanumati Rout stressed on more awareness on cause and prevention of HIV/AIDS in the rural areas. She wanted that HIV test of migrant labourers should be held before and after their migration. CDMO Dr PC Sahu, Binodini Mishra of ActionAid, Bijaya Chapdar of Sahara and District Labour Officer PK Bhoi also spoke on the occasion.