Wives make HIV test must for men

A silent revolution is unfolding in the backwaters of Uttar Pradesh as women in a remote village in Fatehpur district are now insisting that their husbands, who work in cities and metros, get a HIV test done before they return home for vacations.

“We do not want our husbands to bring back disease and death, along with money and gifts. We are not sure of their lifestyle when they are away from home and we cannot risk the health of the entire family. A simple blood test is all that is needed to set our doubts at rest and the men should not have a problem with this,” said Rameshwari (26) whose husband works in Ludhiana.

Rameshwari, and others like her, have a reason to be apprehensive. A screening camp held in the Udaisarai village in Fatehpur, a decade ago, had revealed that a large male population of the village was HIV positive.

In this village, like in many others in eastern UP, large numbers of men work in cities and metros and return home only on festivals like Holi and Diwali.

“We have lost 43 men to HIV in the past one decade. We cannot afford to lose more,” she said.

NGO and Aanganwadi workers discussed the issue with the women here and convinced them to make their husbands undergo the HIV test when they return home. The men, as expected, are not too happy with the demand of their spouses in this village.