Punjab's Forgotten HIV Widows
Punjab is listed as a low-risk state for HIV
according to India’s National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO). But talking to
people and meeting experts suggests that NACO’s figures are very conservative.
The group at greatest risk for HIV in Punjab are truck drivers. There's also a
growing number of injecting drug users. What happens to widows and
survivors in forgotten towns, remote border villages and small towns once their
sole earning members are incapacitated or dead can be heart-breaking.
Widows of truck drivers and IDUs, HIV positive
themselves, struggle to fend for their often positive children. What is striking
is that many of these women have a sense of pride and are not easily defeated,
whether they live in the state capital of Chandigarh or in a tiny border
town like Narli. Most have found a reason to live and refuse to feel sorry for
themselves.
This documentary was produced in partnership with
Panos (India) and GAP as part of its media training programme . It was telecast
on CNN-IBN , a leading national television channel in India.
Link to video: Punjabs forgotten women: a lonely war against aids
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