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| Sunday, 21 November 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Living with a deadly secret by Shanika Sriyananda Faith is all she has, and hope. Hope that her life may be spared and she'd live long enough to watch her children grow into adulthood. She pleads with God every day to give her the courage to face life bravely.
And Anoji, a pretty woman with long hair and everything to live for, has just been diagnosed with AIDS. All because she is a loving and forgiving wife. Anoji is one of the 39 people diagnosed as being HIV positive between July and September this year. While Anoji's plight is heart rendering, what's cause for grievous concern is the sudden upsurge in the number of HIV cases, which is now reported to be somewhere between 3500 and 7000, with 174 full blown AIDS victims. Knowing that she is going to die Anoji tries to spend every moment of her life with her 14-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter, to make up for the time. She will have to leave them forever. She cooks them their favourite food, takes them for tuition, attends to their lessons and secretly sheds tears of despair, wondering why it had to be her. In her mid 30s Anoji contacted AIDS from her husband Sumedha, who she cares for along with all her other chores. Life has been a nightmare for her. Her weakened immune system is gradually sapping her strength leaving her vulnerable to frequent attacks of infections. Her husband's inexplicable weight loss, swollen glands and stubborn upper respiratory infections made the family doctor direct him to the National STD/AIDS Control Program for further testing. The hi-tech laboratory tests stated that he was Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) positive, last July. Tests done on Anoji, who was complaining of similar symptoms, revealed that she was also HIV positive. Hailing from a middle class family, Anoji's and Sumedha's was a proposed marriage. But they lived a very happy life. However, with the rising cost of living, they found it difficult to make life comfortable for their two children, and Sumedha went abroad in search of greener postures. They built their dream house and got a new vehicle with his hard earned money. After five years, Sumedha returned to Sri Lanka and decided to work here, as Anoji found it difficult to look after the two children alone. Their peaceful married life and future plans were reduced to ashes, when the couple had a big argument over a minor family matter and decided to live separate lives. They lived in the same house for two months but as aliens. This made Sumedha become close to his former girl friend, whom he met after years. This close relationship made him visit her house, where she lived alone, frequently. Some days he spent the nights with her. The two-month old relationship ended when the girl friend vanished from the place without informing him. The unfaithful husband came back to Anoji, who loved him enough to take him back. But what he gave in return was a death sentence, in the form of AIDS. Is it ethical to infect innocent wives like Anoji, who live a monogamous life, while their husband's indulge in unprotected sex? The question is becoming increasingly relevant, as more women with unfaithful husbands are getting infected with HIV and other STDs. Shouldn't those, who have been diagnosed as HIV positive have the human decency to make sure that they do not transmit the tragedy to others. The time has come to answer and to have a strong commitment as an increasing number of Sri Lankan housewives are being infected with HIV/AIDS through sexual relationships with their husbands, putting family life in jeopardy and children at risk of becoming orphans at an early age. "Most wives are strongly committed to one partner, but husbands are not. We are seeing a trend, which indicates that the number of married couples infected with HIV, is now increasing" Dr. Shantha Hettiarachchi, Medical Officer of the STD/AIDS Control Program warns adding that thirty nine HIV positive cases had been reported in the third quarter of 2004 - from July to September. This, he says is the highest number of cases reported in a quarter since 1986 in the history of AIDS in Sri Lanka. Anoji was also found HIV positive during the same period. Despite knowing that death will soon be knocking at their door, Anoji and Sumedha have still not given the 'bad news' to their two children. They drop them at school and take them to tuition classes daily. According to Dr. Hettiarachchi, they take extra care when dealing with the children to prevent them from coming into contact with the body fluids, especially blood. "We have several couples like Anoji and Sumedha seeking treatment and advice from the program. Here, we maintain their privacy", he says. According to Dr. Hettiarachchi, a majority of housewives have got infected through their husbands. No one will believe that 57-years-old Sumana is HIV positive. A mother of five children and a grandmother of six, she never travelled out of her very remote village. For the first time in her life she came to Colombo to check her blood from the STD/AIDS control program. "How she got HIV is still a mystery. We questioned her and she does not know how it spread or even the correct word for it", Dr. Hettiarachchi says. "Jara leda kiyala jathiyak pathirenawa kiyala game minissu kiyanawa. Eth mama danne ne dosthara mahaththyo", (People are saying that a dirty sickness is spreading now, but I do not know about it doctor) she cried a lot saying that she can't go even to the temple because she observes 'sil' every poya day", he adds. According to Dr. Hettiarachchi, the only person be suspected of transmitting the illness to her was her husband, who was an alcoholic and committed suicide a few years back. "Now she is coming to the clinic, but we didn't tell her that she is going to die. She thinks that after continuous medication she will be fully cured. She fears that this 'jara lede' will be a black mark on her family", he adds. Dr. Hettiarachchi says the biggest challenge for the STD/AIDS control programme is telling a patient that he or she is HIV positive". Most patients he says burst into tears and wait for sometime without uttering a single word. "After showing the blood reports they reveal how they could have contacted the disease", he adds. Each case has to be handled in a different way. Normally the doctors delve deep into a patient's private life before revealing the finding of the blood reports. They discuss their future plans and educate them about diseases like cancer and heart aliments, which are often fatal. Then the patients are educated about HIV/AIDS and its difference from other sicknesses. "We emphasise the importance of positive thinking, which will help them live a little longer," he explains adding that doctors take hours to reach the point where they feel the patient can accept the news that he / she is HIV positive. An HIV positive person takes at least 8 to 10 years to develop full blown Acquired Immuno Deficiency Virus (AIDS) which is the last and severe stage, where the body is unable to fight the opportunistic infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis and cancers. During this period patients are not allowed to think negative thoughts as strong positive thinking will help them extend their life a few years longer than they expect. "So we try our best to give them hope", Dr. Hettiarachchi says.Patients come to the clinic once a month to discuss their problems with the doctors. There they are advised on how to have safe sex to avoid a chain of transmission, the importance of telling the secret to at least one family member and especially the importance of visiting the STD/AIDS clinics regularly and living a normal life. With the aim of preventing the spread of AIDS and to ease the social stigma of HIV/AIDS the Ministry of Health has taken several steps to help patients diagnosed as having HIV/AIDS. Once a HIV positive person reports to the clinic he or she will be given all necessary vitamins free-of-charge. Blood will be tested regularly and the CD4 Cell Count will be done every six months to check the function of the patients immune system to determine the kind of infections that the patient is vulnerable to. According to results patient will be given necessary drugs to protect them from such infections. "Though we are an HIV/AIDS low prevalence country we have to seriously think about the situation as this is the tip of the ice-berg. The number of patients seem to be increasing due to two reasons - more opportunities for sex and more reportage to clinics as a result of the well-organised awareness campaigns. AIDS Chronicle First HIV case reported from Sri Lanka was in 1986 First Sri Lankan HIV case reported was in 1987 First indigenously transmitted case was reported in 1989 Total number of reported cases upto September 31 this year - 591 Total number of reported AIDS cases 174 Total number of reported AIDS deaths 129 Total number of children with HIV 12 (reported) Estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS - 3500 to 7000 Source: National STD/AIDS Control Program The real names of Anoji and Sumedha have been held back to respect their privacy. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
But AIDS isn't a disease that you can plead with, bargain or ask for
mercy from. Devastating in its utter irrevocability, destructive in the
manner it ostracises the victim, the disease cuts a painful swath across a
person's life, leaving her bereft of friends and hope. It is a death
sentence, passed without a hearing and with no recourse for appeal.
