The team led by Kamala Malla is asking the men returning from India to get their blood tested and also advising the women to have their foreign-returned husband tested immediately on their arrival. Kamala, who contracted AIDS from her husband recites her story to these men.[break]
"The women in the farwestern region get AIDS as present of Dashain and Tihar festivals. We have taken this initiative to prevent other women from getting infected," Malla said. The team including Kata Nepali, Tara BK and Dhana Nepali, among others, has started the campaign even as men serving in the Indian Army have started to return to Doti through Doud, Toleni and Purbi Chauki checkpoints. With leaflets in hands and bags in tow, they are busy convincing the returning men.
"Some of them even scold us when we advise them to get tested but others seek guidance," Kata Nepali talked of her experience. "We also speak to the wives beforehand so that they can also help us convince their husbands," she added revealing that many women are shy to even talk about the topic.
"It is timely to start this campaign as the number of infected persons goes up around this time," opined the chief of the Doti district hospital Chudamani Bhandari. "We have also made it easier for people to take Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) for HIV," Bhandari added.
The campaign has also worked wonders for the confidence of the family of infected persons. "The families living with stigma of infected persons have been relieved to find others coming to interact with them. This has also helped reduce discrimination against these families," Malla reasoned.
The HIV-infected persons have formed five groups in the district for co-operation, raising awareness and fighting for their rights.
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