Madhya Pradesh: Betul case puts limelight on HIV

The bizarre case in Betul on Tuesday in which a HIV positive man set ablaze his wife and two children in his car, has put the spotlight back on HIV positive people in Madhya Pradesh.

Updated on: Mar 12, 2015, 20:34:09 IST

Hindustan Times | By Neeraj Santoshi, Bhopal

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The bizarre case in Betul on Tuesday in which a HIV positive man set ablaze his wife and two children in his car, has put the spotlight back on HIV positive people in Madhya Pradesh.

Though the engineer said on Wednesday that his wife and children were never tested for HIV, the incident has raised many questions on how people are dealing with HIV despite so many advances in medical science.

HT found that during last ten years, the number of such persons has increased from 1759 in 2005 to 5,395 in 2014, which comes to around 40,000, according to the figures available with the state AIDS Control Society.

Though the percentage has come down significantly, the absolute numbers of HIV positive cases have increased with every passing year.

According to the Adult HIV prevalence percentage (2011-2014) of National AIDS Control Society (NACO), the prevalent percentage in state was .09% while the national average stood at 0.027%

Mukesh Sinha, executive director of NGO, Madhya Pradesh Voluntary Health Association, said the bizarre incident prima facie shows that the man took the extreme step because of two reasons.

"First, because he would not have been able to deal with the stigma associated with the disclosure of his HIV positive status. Second, the fact that he was perhaps fully aware of HIV/AIDS. From my personal knowledge, I know many HIV people who have survived for nearly 18 to 20 years with proper nutrition, precautions and healthcare. Also, he should have known that HIV positive mother infects her child in only 30% of the cases. In 70% cases, she doesn't infect her child. And if this man had not got his children tested, it is very unfortunate. May be they didn't had HIV,” Sinha said.

When questioned about the surge, Sinha said that though there was an increasing trend, but the fact also remains that detection rate has also increased.

On whether awareness on AIDS has yet not percolated to the ground level in the remote areas, he said in recent times the funding for AIDS control had shrunk and AIDS control programme was yet to be made a mainstream campaign in the health department.

"Because of such things, the overall programme has suffered," he said.

Despite repeated attempts to contact the officials of the Madhya Pradesh State AIDS Control Society, they were not available for comments.

Read:HIV+ engineer who burnt wife, children changes statement

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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