Andhra panchayat bans HIV centre

Sunday August 30, 2009, Nalgonda

Community prejudice against HIV/AIDS patients came to the fore in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh where a gram panchayat passed a resolution asking a community care centre for people living with HIV/AIDS to be shifted out of their village.
"We will get those diseases. We don't want this here. Never ever," said a local. The 10-bedded centre funded by NACO and run by a corporate hospital was moved here in June.
The authorities say though the resolution is passed by a democratic body, it has no legal validity and must be annulled, but the bigger challenge is to address the apprehensions of the locals.
"Let them locate the centre one kilometre away from the village or shift it back into the main hospital premises. Why did they shift it here in the middle of the village,'' said village sarpanch Mangamma.
"Locals are not against HIV positive people but want to safeguard the health of those in the village," said Sadiq, who lives close to the centre.
Some villagers have told NDTV that medical waste was not being disposed off properly and they fear that mosquitoes could transmit the disease.
However, others say they are aware how HIV spreads but are worried about opportunistic infections like tuberculosis in the patients moving around in the village.
"Not just needles, all biological products and disposables, as per universal precautions, we are disposing. If they feel centre is not in their welfare, centre may be forced to closed down,'' said Dr Colonel C G Wilson, principal of Kamineni Institute of Medical sciences.
The authorities say the resolution is not legal or binding. But convincing the villagers is not going to be easy.