Let , this not be my last wish !

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

My CD4 count has come down to 129, the viral load has gone above

1,56,000, I lost 6 kg in the last 3 months, my body's response to

first line ARV is failing and I wish I had the fortune to access

Second line ARV.

I am afraid whether this would remain my last unfulfilled wish, but

I pray let this not be, because I want to see my elder daughter

studying in class 10 get married and be in safe hands.

I happened to be the founder President of Kachchh Network of

Positive People (Kachchh NP+), a district level network affiliated

to Indian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (INP+).

I have been enjoying a healthy happy life with the support of first

line ART since 1997. With life extended by first line ART, without

any external support, I could reach out, along with my wife Anita to

more than 200 fellow people living with HIV/AIDS in Kachchh telling

them not to worry and to take care because HIV is treatable.

However, today I am worried; I am worried because I cannot afford to

avail the costly second line ART. I work in a company in the Kandla

Special Economic Zone as a supervisor, but my one-month earning will

not be sufficient to avail second line ART.

I am worried because, I do not see that government has any plan to

take people like me in to account. I do not have any idea how many

like me have started counting down the days.

Often when I go to the Kandla port and see huge vessels anchored

around, and when I see the IAF aircrafts above my head, burning

fuels worth years of ARV to thousands like me, I wonder how little

the voice of people like me is, that the country could not heed

attention to our woes?

As told to (INP+)

Umashankar Pandey

President

Kachchh Network of Positive People (Kachchh NP+)

C/o Export Packaging Unit

Sector 2, KAZEZ

Gandhidham, Kachchh District, Gujarat.370230

Mob:09328945146

e-mail: <kachchhnp@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

I was moved by Umashankar's story, " Let, this not be my last wish! "

I hope someone in NACO, some doctor sees and understands your plight and

intervenes, helps. Don't lose hope.

I am sure something good will come out of this email network. Hope you see your

daughter married and live on to see her little ones too. Best wishes

Usha Rai

e-mail: <usharai1948@...>