HIV afflicted patients in Karnataka poll fray

Two patients suffering from Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) have entered the poll fray from Gulbarga in the ensuing elections to Karnataka assembly.

Jagannath, 43, and Mahantha Gowda, 40, both of whom have been suffering from HIV for more than decade now, have decided to take a plunge into electoral politics after finding the Government apathetic to the woes of HIV and AIDS patients.

While Jagannath has filed his nomination papers from Gulbarga South Assembly constituency, which is home to more than 15,000 HIV patients, Gowda has thrown his hat in the electoral ring of Gulbarga district’s Shahpur assembly segment, where an estimated 10,000 HIV patients reside.

Jagannath and Gowda are activists of Divya Jeevana Trust, a Gulbarga-based NGO working for the welfare of HIV patients. After their efforts to secure tickets from mainstream political parties failed, they filed their nomination papers as independent candidates on Saturday.

“There is no one to hear our problems. Nobody raises our issues in the Legislative Assembly. So, we decided to contest the polls”, said Jagannath.

Karnataka is estimated to have about 500,000 persons with HIV and Gulbarga is reckoned to be a high AIDS-prevalent region in the State. Health infrastructure in the region is very poor and many hospitals do not have basic facilities, let alone equipments and treatment needed to address sex-related diseases.

The Divya Jeevana Trust, which has more than 1,600 people on its rolls, is backing the two candidates. “People living with HIV are the victims of stigma and discrimination by the society and even by their own kith and kin. Their entry will boost the confidence of people suffering from HIV”, Trust’s President Malappa Poojari said.