HIV+ woman who’s spreading positivity

Surat: Her life had many twists and turns as she had to pass from the toughest struggle for inclusion and acceptance after facing discrimination in society when she was detected with HIV in 1997.
At the age of 21 years, she and her husband had to take a tough decision to abort the child. With a mission to change peoples’ perception about HIV/AIDS, she got herself involved in social activities for HIV community. At present, she is the face of HIV community in the country.

Meet Daxa Patel, who is not only president of National Coalition of People Living with HIV in India (NCPI+), but also relentlessly working for patients, most of them outcast by the society. From organizing awareness camps to marriage fairs for HIV patients and successfully running a day-boarding school and hostel for HIV-infected children, Daxa has put her life, blood and sweat for their uplift.

“When my husband and I were diagnosed with HIV in 1997, there was no treatment available. Meanwhile, I got pregnant and had no choice but to go for termination. One of the doctors told me that my lifespan was just for five months. I was searching for a person infected with HIV and I found a woman who was living with the disease for two years. This gave me confidence that I could also live long. This was the turning point in my life,” says 42-year-old Daxa.

Daxa, who was doing a small embroidery business from her house, and her husband informed their family and relatives about the disease. To their surprise, the family was very supportive and this further boosted her confidence on fighting discrimination faced by people like her. Her treatment began only in 2007, 10 years after he was infected.

It was in 2003, Daxa, who was earlier working as a counsellor with a city-based non-governmental organization SAHAS, got in touch with Umesh Patel. Along with Umesh and other few community members, they decided to launch a platform for HIV positive people. This is how the Gujarat State Network for People Living with HIV/ÁID (GSNP+) was launched in 2003.

The main objective of GSNP+ was to assist the people infected with HIV/AIDS, ensure they get proper medical attention and timely medicines and organizing awareness programmes etc.

“We used to meet the HIV patients at some deserted places and gardens to protect their identity. We started with just 35 members at GSNP+ and now we have 67,000 members across all the districts in Gujarat,” she said.

Later, the NCPI+ was launched at the national level and the organization has a presence in 32 states across the country. Daxa is also running Janani Dham for the destitute HIV and AIDS infected orphaned children on the outskirts of the city since 2009. It is supported by Gujarat government’s social justice department and Surat-based P P Savani Group and has around 98 boys and girls.

GSNP+ will soon launch a scheme for HIV positive people, where they can get easy medicine refill and won’t have to visit government dispensaries. This is for the first time that a project has been launched with the state government and will be introduced on national-level.