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WOMEN EMPOWERMENT / Talking about AIDS is taboo in rural: Deepika

Abha Gupta. Dated: 12/18/2018 11:33:49 AM

* JK AIDS Control Society makes people aware that it is not spread through handshake
* Rural people think AIDS is only spread by wrong means
ER ABHA GUPTA
Jammu, Dec 17
Deepika Thakur is working for the cause of spreading awareness on AIDS in the society. She is working in a profession where talking about AIDS is a taboo in society, but still she is performing her duties with dedication and zeal.
She did her schooling from Presentation Convent School. She always wanted to do something different. Earlier she wanted to become an advocate but later she got interested in Journalism and worked for a newspaper. In the year 2000 J&K started an AIDS awareness program in which she got selected and now she is working as Deputy Director.
She says that talking about AIDS was a taboo in the society and especially the people of rural areas never feel good about talking on this disease. She says that they did a number of awareness programs in schools and colleges across Jammu and Kashmir and the students were always receptive. They have done training programs for teachers, doctors. In the rural areas they have done a lot of advertisements to make villagers aware about this program.
Deepika says that now she has an experience of 19 years in this field. The society conducts free confidential testing for the patients suffering from AIDS. On the causes of AIDS she says, if the sexual partner is infected then sexual intercourse leads to transmission of the disease, blood transfusion of infected blood, infected syringes, infected pregnant mother to child, are the reasons of spread of AIDS. She says that AIDS has no cure but treatment is there. Its treatment is done in both Jammu and Kashmir centers.
“JK AIDS Control Society makes people aware that it does not spread through handshake, or sitting together or talking, what we do is that we shake hands with the people who are infected with AIDS . then only people understand that it is not spread by touching, it is very difficult for us to make adults aware of this disease because they believe that this disease is only spread by wrong means”, she says.
She says that only way to check that whether a person is HIV Positive is by blood test. Some of the symptoms of HIV Positive include drastic weight loss, fever which is not cured by medicines.
In one of the cases in US where the child got infected because of his mother, that child was given medicines for seven years and then that child became HIV Negative after seven years.
On her successful journey she says that she thanks god and her supportive family, as working for this cause is not so easy.
Her message on Women Empowerment : “Women have power , no one can stop you them if they have will power”.