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April 23, 1997

Living With HIV

The Freedom Foundation in Bangalore is the last resort where victims of the dreaded virus can recharge themselves

HER words froze the de-addiction specialist. "Give an injection and kill him," she told Karl Sequeira, pointing to her son-a mental wreck in the prime of his life. He had become a scary figure for his family, after he tested positive for HIV. The search for a 'dumping site' for him took her to the bearded Karl. He could do little for the young man because his rehabilitation centre admitted only drug addicts and alcoholics.

The months that followed this incident were hectic for Karl and Ashok Rau, executive trustees of the Freedom Foundation, as they worked on their pioneering project. Inaugurated last February, it welcomes anyone who yearns for a new life after testing positive. Two of its 15 inmates have already died. But with dignity. The end came for farmer Madan, 28, when he was making plans to return to his farm, to start life afresh. The two deaths in quick succession haven't weakened the resolve of the other inmates. "I want to get back to work so that I don't become a burden on my mother," wheezed Ram, 23. He has made remarkable progress from tuberculosis and severe skin infections after coming to the centre in Hennur, on the outskirts of Bangalore.

"I was in a daze when I came here," said Kedarnath. "I wanted to die because there was no point in continuing this dreary existence. But now I want to live." Abandoned by his wife; shunned by his friends and booted out of his job, Kedarnath needed a place to absorb the shock in peace. He found it when he met Karl, a bachelor who has been in the counselling business for 17 years. The centre has inmates from several states who work during the day and return to spend the night. "What they need is a caring atmosphere and timely medical intervention," said Ashok.

Ram was barely 20 when he tested HIV positive after being wracked by frequent bouts of fever and glandular swelling. Doctors at a private hospital treated him for a few weeks and showed him the door once he showed sings of recovery. Thrown out by his parents, Ram would probably have died on the streets had he not found accommodation at the Freedom Foundations. His mother visits him often and is happy with the progress he has been making. "We want to make sure they are there when he needs them," said Ashok.

"Meet out new inmate," announced Karl as he ushered in a bedraggled young girl into the consulting room of the centre's medical officer Dr Nagaraj. She had been rescued from a brothel in Mumbai and packed off to her native state. Chances are she may settle down here for along innings. "They live in an isolated world and pine for security and assurance," noted Dr Nagaraj. "They need encouragement to recover from the shock."

Jayaraman's wife left with their children after he told her to his condition. His mother and sister consoled him, but were not ready to keep him at home. They drop in on weekends and the arrangements suits everyone fine. Jayaraman plans to spend the rest of his days here -finding work when he is healthy to pay for his board and lodging. "He is welcome to stay here as long as he is ill," said Ashok. But the Freedom Foundation is not a place for the healthy HIV positive who makes no effort to stand on his own feet.

For Rohit, 40, who found the ground slipping under his feet, it was a god-send. he was sacked from his sales job a year ago with out any reason being given. Rohit came to know about his fatal illness from the doctor who had been treating him for fever. By then his wife too had fallen victim to the virus and she left him, a very bitter woman. The past is behind and tomorrow no longer seems all that uncertain for him as he leaves the centre every morning looking for work.

Anand is determined to get back to the factory which kicked him out when he tested positive. The management has agreed to take him back after a moving lecture by Karl and Ashok on his behalf. The two men have been successful in persuading many employers in Bangalore to adopt a healthier policy towards their HIV-positive employees. "They should ensure that those infected receive the counselling, medical and social support to live with dignity," said Ashok.The Foundation's rehabilitation package is a ster in this direction. It is handled by a team consisting of physicians, psychologists, counsellors and yoga therapists. "The toughest part is in breaking through the barrier of isolation which separates the AIDS patients from family, friends and society," said Ashok.

Equally though was finding the funds for their project. "It costs us around Rs 1 lakh to keep the centre running for a month, " said Karl. The two men spend a lot of energy and time looking for sponsors. They found a durable one in Levis Strauss which is in the forefront of sponsoring similar projects world wide. "Hundreds of centres like ours have to be started to take care of the HIV/AIDS patients in the future," said Karl. Many hospitals have started AIDS-only wards. But they have no beds for the healthy HIV positive kicked out of their own homes. Of course, there is no dearth of counselling centres. "Counselling without infrastructure doesn't make sense," said Karl. The HIV positive person wanted a place to stay, job and food. All these and more is available at the Freedom Foundation.

SASLIN SALIM

Made in India

FOR some years now doctors in India have had to depend on tow types of AIDS tests to detect that AIDS virus-the conventional Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and the Western Blot.

The former is a preliminary test and the latter is done to confirm the presence of the HIV virus.The country is totally dependent on imported kits to check the spread of the deadly AIDS virus. However, the foreign kits had one failing : they could not detect many of the Indian sub-types of HIV virus that were peculiar to the country. The country also had to pay precious foreign exchange at the rate of Rs 17.70 per kit.

The fear of wrong diagnosis and the high cost of importing kits may now be a thing of the past. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences has developed an indigenous kit that not only detects all the sub-types but is also much cheaper - Rs 7 per test.

The kit was developed by a team of specialists headed by 42-year-old Dr Pradeep Seth, head of the department of microbiology. "The kit will have 100 per cent sensitively and specificity. It will be able to detect all the virus sub-types present in India," said Seth.

Although the indigenous test kit is for the preliminary of ELISA test the second test may not be required at all because the new kit guarantees almost 100 per cent success. To prove its efficacy, the kit was put thorough a series of rigorous tests.

AIIMS has now applied for patents in India and abroad.

RAKSHIT PURI

Free time for a price

JUST a few years ago, when cyberspace was young, most online service providers charged their customers by the hour. These days, offering unlimited access for a fixed monthly price is practically a necessity for any consumer online business. Now a small but growing group of Internet access companies is taking the next step: doing away with monthly fees altogether while aiming to make money exclusively from advertising.

"It was bound to happen," said Evan Neufeld, and analyst in New York for Jupiter Communications, an online market-research firm. "Internet service providers are not making money at $19.95 all-you-can-eat access, and it seems like prices are going to go down. Unless you are AT&T and can absorb huge losses, you have to look for other revenue streams."

At least three new online service providers are no longer charging monthly rates: Cyber Freeway (http://www.cyberfreeway.com/ and Bigger.net (http://www.bigger.net/), both based in San Jose, California, and Smart World Communications Inc. (http://www.smart1.net), based in Danbury, Connecticut.

Free, advertiser-supported email service is available from some other companies, including Juno Online Services LP (www.juno.com). But unlike Juno, the three new comers are offering access to all facets of the Internet, including the World Wide Web.

Getting started on Smart World's system generally costs about $90, while Bigger.net, a unit of TGGH Inc., promotes itself as "the $59.95 lifetime Internet provider," charging that amount to begin service plus $10 a year to maintain an electronic mail account. Cyber Freeway, which is being financed by the American subsidiary of Hyper Net Inc., a Japanese company, is now free of any charges for consumers.

Although online advertising is increasing, some analysts believe that there just isn't enough advertising money out there to support everyone online. For now, Smart World's only advertising revenue comes from banners on the company's World Wide Web home page that disappear when a user begins surfing to other sites. Customers seem happy with the other sites. Customers seem happy with that approach.

But Smart World is developing access software that will place advertisements on the user's computer screen for as long as the customer is online, regardless of where they roam in cyberspace. Cyber Freeway already uses a similar program.

SETH SCHIESEL

The Virus hunter

MICROBIT Software Systems, a Chennai-based company has launched Vscan 1.5, its latest anti-virus package. Vscan can detect and clean more than 1,500 viruses including the current favourites-One-Half, Tanpro, User-5, Na-3000, Diehard-@ Khobar, New-Bug and New-BFD.

The Vscan package includes a scanner and remover, TSR sentry system, disk monitoring , system Integrity checker, Boot clear system and rescue system.

The critical virus scan does a memory check and interpreter check and a self check before it moves on the checking the boot sector. This makes it easy to detect resident and non-resident viruses.

An unequal existence

IN this age of equality, differences do exist. Women face this problem all the time. They have to play second fiddle to their husbands, whose job is, naturally, more important. So if the husband moves to a new job in a different city, the wife has to move. If she is already working, she has no option but to resign and follow the spouse with the kids.

Getting a job in another city is not easy. And more often than not most women end up doing part-time jobs or sitting at home thinking of the good old times. Initially the wives take some time to settle the family-get school of new connections for the gas and register that ration card.

After the logistics of transfer die down the emptiness of the routine stands out in stark contrast to their previous job. Their self-esteem-as is the case with many unemployed wives-begins to suffer. Psychologists say that women thus begin to feel less confident and more irritated.

This happens to millions of Indians across the country where the wife's job is treated as unimportant. But the husbands can help.

After the couple has settled down the husbands can put their wives in touch with the working wives of their colleagues.

Encourage the wife to improve her educational qualifications. They can come in handy later. Wives should be encouraged to join a course in line with their career. Convince her to spend time on hobbies. painting or writing can be motivating at times.

Take a break from work. Tell her it is one long extended vacation and as good times do not last the vacation won't last. A few companies do their bit to provide some support for the wives by offering part-time work or using their connections to organise interviews-but it is rare.

Lastly, if things do not change for the better, scout around for a posting in a city where it will be easy for her to find a job.

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