Assam woman chronicles 25-year journey with HIV

Living with HIV is believed to be tough but Jahnavi Goswami of Assam has done so with ease for the past 25 years. “It’s quite normal. Just take the medicine regularly, follow the controlled diet and keep smiling,” Goswami told DH on Tuesday.

She has now taken to YouTube to make other HIV-infected persons aware about how to live life positively.

Infected with HIV by her late husband, 43-year-old Goswami was the first person in Assam to have made her HIV-positive status public. Since then, she has not just lived her life with positivity but also spread awareness to fight the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS. Goswami is the president of the Assam Network of Positive People and also runs a children's home here that houses 18 HIV-positive children. Assam, at present, has nearly 13,000 HIV-positive cases.

“Almost daily, I get calls from HIV-positive persons who want to know how I have lived with HIV for so long. Most of them come at night and it is quite difficult for me to attend to them as I go to bed after taking my medicine (Anti-retroviral Therapy) around 7.30 or 8 pm. So I decided to use the digital space and upload the video on YouTube to share my life story,” Goswami said.

“There is another reason why I took to YouTube. Although the number of HIV positive cases have come down in Assam, the stigma is still there. So many people find it tough to talk freely about their status. Now, they can just log in to YouTube and know about the dos and don'ts,” she added.

In the video in Assamese, Goswami talks about the urgency of going for treatment as soon as HIV is detected. “Doctors have always advised patients to go for tests like Hepatitis B and C and Tuberculosis. It is always advisable for positive persons to avoid fatty foods at night and sleep for sufficient hours. An HIV-positive person should try to lead a healthy lifestyle by avoiding liquor or smoking,” she said. She now plans to make similar videos in Hindi and English for better reach.

A recent report by the Assam AIDS Control Society claimed that the State saw a 1% increase in HIV-positive cases among the men having sex with men (MSM) community. It comprises of homosexual, bisexual and transgender people and is considered to be a high-risk group for HIV/AIDS. Female sex workers, drug users and long distance truck drivers are the other groups which are considered high-risk.