The credit for this goes to the Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centre (VCTC), opened inside the prison hospital premises recently.

Altogether 1,235 prisoners, including 140 women, have consented to undergo testing at the VCTC of the Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society (KSAPS), according to said nodal officer Dr S Shashikala, a dermatologist and venereologist. “Nine of those who tested positive are women,” she added. These statistics date from the inaugural day, July 2, to November 16.

Prison Superintendent T H Lakshminarayan calls the centre a “great boon" for those in prison. "Many of the prisoners here are quite young. When they come to know about their HIV-positive status during its initial stage, they can go in for Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) and prolong their lifespan. I have seen AIDS patients fight even Tuberculosis through proper treatment."

The comments of HIV-positive prisoner, Vinayagam, lends credence to that view. “I was working as a cook-master at a hotel before coming here. I have read about AIDS in papers and heard about it but never dreamt I would fall prey to it. Initially it depressed me that my life has turned out to be like this but it really helps that I am aware of it now. I am taking appropriate treatment and proper care of my health now.”

Good infrastructure

The VCTC is equipped with testing kits, refrigerator, a centrifuge and has a lab technician and counsellors apart from a nodal officer, said S T Ramesh, Inspector General of Prisons and Additional Director General of Police.
The testing procedure is carried out in a sensitive manner. On an average, the prison gets between 40 and 50 inmates per day. A talk on sexually transmitted diseases and prevention is given to all. A male counsellor instructs men while a female counsellor tends to the few women entrants. The prisoners are goaded to take the HIV test purely on a voluntary basis. Those who opt for the test are  given a post-test counselling to prepare them mentally in case the results reveal them to be HIV-positive.

Sometimes a prisoner experiences other health problems and approaches the in-house hospital for help. When the doctors suspect him or her to be a HIV-positive patient, they suggest the test be undertaken. “Only when the patient voluntarily agrees to go for the testing and signs a consent form, they are allowed to take the test. These are the ones who have a real shock when they test positive,” said Dr Shashikala. The Centre does its best to take care that confidentiality regarding HIV-positive prisoners is maintained.

Depression management

Psychiatrist Dr P Rajani helps the prisoners cope with the depression they undergo if they test positive. “We make them understand that this does not mean the end of their happiness. By drawing their attention to people who are leading a happy and healthy life despite testing positive, we motivate them to have hope in their future.” Rajappa Shetty, counsellor from KSAPS, said, “My experience has been that most of the men who have tested positive really do not care much about it as they feel they are already stuck inside a prison and nothing worse can befall. Only a handful become depressed.” Lalitha, counsellor from the Karnataka Health Promotion Trust said,“ Many women inmates with a rural background have not heard about HIV and AIDS at all. When tested positive, they definitely have psychological problems.”

The VCTC is advantageous to the police too. Earlier, jailbirds who wanted to take the test had to be transported upto Bowring Hospital and the police had a tough time putting in place security measures. Now, only those who test positive need to visit Bowring for further treatment. Things are likely to get even better at VCTC. One of the future plans is to invite the `People Living with HIV-AIDS' (PLWHA) group to motivate the patients on a regular basis.