A new mother living with HIV receives life-saving medication

Anurag Paul 27 April, 2020

Seema with her new born child. Image blurred to conceal her true identity.

Seema (name changed) recently gave birth to a healthy baby boy, a rare moment of joy for the family. The family is reeling under the lockdown as their financial condition has gone from bad to worse. She is on antiretroviral therapy, treatment for HIV and registered in ART Centre, GTB Hospital, New Delhi. Her husband is a differently-abled person who lost his livelihood due to the communal riots which broke out close to where they live, in February this year.

Recently, Seema received a phone call from one of our outreach workers asking about her wellbeing. Upon learning about her newborn baby and insufficient antiretroviral medication, the outreach worker visited her on the same day.

“As part of our regular telephonic outreach, I called Seema to reinforce precautions against COVID-19 and counsel her on treatment adherence. When I came to know about her vulnerabilities, I visited her the same day” said the outreach worker working with Care and Support Centre of Vihaan programme.

Seema received her stock of antiretroviral medication and the outreach worker briefed her about all the precautions that she needs to take to protect her child. The outreach worker also applied for online temporary ration card coupon for Seema since the Delhi government has begun issuing temporary ration coupons to non-ration cardholders living in the city to give relief to people facing food scarcity due to lockdown. With the online coupon, they can now access food provisions for free of cost and help the family sustain until the situation improves.

Seema and her husband were grateful for the visit by our outreach worker. “Brother, even in such a difficult situation you thought about us and cared to come. I am sincerely thankful to you”, said Seema.

From 23rd March to 20th April 2020, Alliance India, together with civil society partners reached 319486 people living with HIV over the phone, of these, 244850 successfully collected their medication either from ART centres or our Care and Support centres. The outreach workers made home delivery of antiretroviral medication to 49459 people. Besides, 39,871 people accessed food supplies and were linked to financial assistance provided by the state welfare schemes.