SHREEPAL SAPTASAGAR
HIV/AIDS coordinator, Maharashtra, India
Februrary 1, 2009
Remembering Shantinath
Shantinath was a young 47 year old. He was a kind and charismatic person working as an outreach worker. He was also the backbone of the Child Help Project which supports children living with HIV and AIDS, assisting them with their travel to access antiretroviral treatment (ART) and providing them with nutrition support. He used to be the first person at the doors of the district hospital’s ART Center, waiting for these children to serve them better. He was everything to the children. Affectionately known as “Uncle”, Shantinath was a good friend, a caretaker, and the guardian of more than 210 children living with AIDS.
Shantinath and I were the same age. He was both a good friend and colleague, working with me since 2006 in UNICEF-supported programmes for young people and then in the Child Help Project. I knew him and his family well; they all shared this great compassion for children and people living with HIV and AIDS. He provided immense support to many, encouraging people living with HIV and AIDS to establish Family Welfare Fund(s) through district-level networking. The Family Welfare Fund provides savings for people living with HIV and AIDS from their earnings and is used exclusively for their medical and emergency needs.
On New Year’s Eve 2009, the sad news hit my ears through fellow members: Shantinath was no more! He passed away, leaving his family in tears, making all those children orphans.
Shantinath had been known to be infected with HIV for the last 10 to12 years of his life. He had been living with AIDS for 5 to 7 years. He was under first-line antiretroviral treatment from the district hospital, but last year, he developed a resistance to the drug. During this grim period, he used to fall sick often and was hospitalized for 4-5 days periodically. The only option for people like Shantinath is usually to be put on second-line ART if suitable for the patient’s body. In India today, second line ART is only available at a few selected places. We tried very hard to put him on second-line ART but all was in vain. There was a long queue for second line ART. Today, more than 200 Shantinath’s are waiting for their second line ART in my district alone and thousands in India.
“Let’s help them out through better life skills, psychosocial support, good nutrition and, more over, through love and affection”.
