Jodhpur:
Women in Jodhpur carried out mock funeral procession on the streets, with the effigy of an AIDS patient, to highlight the growing apathy of families in the area.
",These days there are hardly any men to help AIDS patients. There was nobody to lift the bodies of HIV patients who died recently. We carried these effigies on our shoulders to raise social awareness about the issue,", said Varsha Kumari, AIDS patient and activist.
Activists say that family members did not come to claim the body of even one of the 15 AIDS patients who have died in Jodhpur in the past month.
And they claim AIDS patients are being denied adequate medicines due to a recent cut in the government budget for AIDS treatment in this region.
",Medicine supply has stopped abruptly. Earlier the budget for AIDS was Rs 34 lakh but that has been slashed. That is why the hospital does not have enough medicines. Two patients have died in the past week and 15 patients died in the past month,", said Dinesh Joshi, President, Network for People living with AIDS.
But after the protests, local authorities are promising a better deal for AIDS patients.
",These people have come and complained for the first time today. We will hold an enquiry about shortage of medicines and sort out their problem,", said Mukesh Gupta, Associate Prof, Jodhpur Medical College.
But besides medicines, global research has shown that the family role is crucial in providing support and care for people living with AIDS.
And if that remains missing due to fears of social stigma, battling the AIDS menace won't be easy.