Estranged women turn HIV+

Estranged women turn HIV+
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Estranged_women_turn_HIV/articleshow/2510416.cms

2 Nov 2007, 0202 hrs IST,Roli Srivastava,TNN

HYDERABAD: So far, promiscuous men have been held largely responsible for fuelling the HIV epidemic in India, but HIV/Aids experts now say men alone cannot be blamed.

Promiscuity among women is on the rise, they say, with an increasing number of women reporting to be HIV positive while the status of their spouses is negative.

Doctors working closely with HIV/Aids patients at government hospitals say they are seeing more HIV positive women among discordant couples (where one is positive and another negative). Statistics of such cases from state-run maternity hospitals in Hyderabad are perhaps not only a social indicator but also confirm the trend.

"In discordant couples, women are HIV positive in around 30 per cent cases and the husbands are negative," says Dr G Shailaja, superintendent of the Government Maternity Hospital, Koti, who has been studying the issue closely.

These cases started coming to light over the past two to three years when expectant mothers started undergoing HIV tests. Dr Shailaja says such a high number of HIV positive women among discordant couples was "unexpected." The average age of the infected women is around 30 years.

Doctors also note that most women cite "blood transfusion" as the reason that led to the infection. Globally, 80 per cent of the women are infected with HIV through their spouses or life partners. "But now we are told there are more reported cases of discordant couples with women positive and their partners negative," says K Padmavathi, deputy director of the Andhra Pradesh State Aids Control Society.

Those working in the field of HIV/Aids say such cases are not really city-specific. Doctors working with HIV/Aids cases for over a decade note that if earlier, the percentage of HIV positive men was 90 per cent (among couples who approached them), the percentage has dropped to 65 per cent now.

"It may have dropped further," says Dr P Balamba, obstetrician and gynaecologist and former additional superintendent of Osmania General Hospital.

She says the while the trend has been there for some time now, the numbers have started increasing only over the past few years.

Dispelling a myth before it takes form, Dr Balamba says the trend is not as prevalent among working women but is being reported from all walks of life across social classes.

"From workers to the highly educated," she says, her observations based largely on her experience at the Government Maternity Hospital, Nayapul and now from her private practice.

"Promiscuity is increasing among girls not just in urban but even in rural areas," she says, adding that perhaps this was being brushed under the carpet and is now coming forth with HIV statistics as the indicator.

Another gynaecologist, who did not wish to be named, said women were more susceptible to the infection (compared to men) given that the concentration of the virus is higher in semen.

Interestingly, doctors observe that families and husbands in particular have been "considerate and supportive" of their HIV positive wives, but they point out this observation is not really applicable to the more educated class where some cases have ended in divorce. However, in most cases families have been supportive, doctors say.