About HIV/AIDS care and Counseling programme

In the year 2003 India is reported to have had around 5.1 million children and adults having HIV/AIDS. (Source- UNAIDS 2004 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic)

Operation Blessing India conducts special HIV screening tests during the medical outreaches especially in the slum areas. Those who are tested HIV positive are then counseled and referred to professional care. Special awareness programmes are conducted through street- plays and skits to help educate people on how to prevent HIV/AIDS. People are also educated on how to take care of HIV patients during the awareness programme.

OBI has a rehabilitation project in Yadgirigutta for women from the sex trade and their families, which is situated about 70 Kms away from Hyderabad. The Sewing Center, with the help of a local pastor, trains the women to have alternate employment and help them come out of the precarious claws of the sex trade. Many men and women affected by HIV/AIDS have found a reason to live since they were touched by OBI’s efforts.

OBI’s mobile laboratory facility enables the people in the remotest areas to undergo tests crucial to the accurate diagnosis of their problem.

OBI also partners with Nireekshana, an NGO dedicated to work with HIV positive patients by giving them free medicines and counseling on regular basis. There is an enormous need for more centers through which OBI can provide care and counseling.

1298 HIV patients are being given free medicines, nutritional supplements and counseling at monthly camps held.