A study of socio-demography and health condition of HIV positive people in Dharwad district

Pages: 259-264
Ravindra and Shobhadevi R. Patil (PG Department of Studies in Social Work, Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnatak)

HIV/AIDS is a serious menace prevailing in the county and other Asian countries as well. Although the prevalence rate of HIV is 0.91 percent in India the number of people living with the infection is 5.13 million. The near universal nature and the high intensity of stigma attached to HIV/AIDS may be attributed to its intimate connection with two subjects that are taboo (stigmatised) in most societies and certainly in South Asia sexual behaviour and death. Present research is an approach in understanding the social, economical and health condition of the HIV positive people with special reference to Dharwad district. The age group which generally sufferer with this deadly diseases is mid 30’s , 40’s and 50’s. This is the age when the people are economically productive towards their family, towards the society and towards the county. The first case of HIV was detected in Chennai in 1986 and first sero-positive individual was detected and first AIDS case was also reported during the same year. There are around 16 districts in Karnataka which poses more than 1 percent prevalence of HIV/AIDS and Dharwad is also one among them. The factors which are causing the rapid growth in the prevalence rate has definitely affected the social and economic roots deeply. Hence its impact is severe on the social and economic consequences and affects a individual’s family. To study the impact of demographic variables such as age, sex, education, marital status, religion, occupation, domicile, source of income, type of family, opportunistic infections, detection of HIV status, disclosure, ART treatment, side effects of ART treatment and any other treatment apart from ART. 200 respondents have been selected from Dharwad District of Karnataka State from age group 19 to 49 years and above which consisted of 82 males and 118 females. Majority of the respondents i.e 35.50 percent of them had obtained primary education. Majority of the respondents i.e. 62 percent of them were married, maximum of respondent’s occupation was coolie in a rural locality with below Rs. 5000/- income per month. 84 percent of them had no opportunistic infections and stayed in a nuclear family.