A virus that originated in a small corner of Africa, HIV has left its footprints all over the world and is practically a pandemic. People affected by the virus face unremarkable challenges from physiological to social and economic. Hence People Living with HIV (PLHIVs) deserve a variety of services such as medical attention, counselling, treatment for opportunistic infections, health maintenance, in-home care, etc. They are aided in creating assets to safeguard their lives and means of subsistence in this way.

Giving community members the proper information at the right time is the most crucial element in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. It has been noted that in good treatment practices, there are fewer risks of complications, faster recoveries, less stress, less chance of spread, and fewer hospital admissions.

In line with that Caritas India’s Gram Nirman team organised a training and orientation on home-based care. The programme advised participants—mostly women from affected and infected families, on how to prevent and manage most of the common opportunistic infections that affect HIV/AIDS-positive people at home and stop the spread of infections.

Since HIV/AIDS is a chronic illness that requires lifelong management, its spread in underprivileged communities makes it an even more serious concern that necessitates immediate lifestyle changes. People with HIV/AIDS frequently face consequences of life-threatening diseases since infection rates in the project areas are generally higher. The best course of action is prevention and efficient home-based care.

With assistance from Caritas Australia, the Gram Nirman team of Caritas India is presently working with 1205 PLHIV who reside in the urban slums of East Delhi. The list includes 100 Men who have sex with men (MSM), 52 children, 55 transgender people, 39 Female Sex Workers (FSW), 630 males, and 329 females.

The variety of roles and responsibilities of caregivers was also explained to the participants. This included inculcating good eating habits such as consuming nutritious food and avoiding junk.

It was also emphasized that maintaining good personal cleanliness is one of the best strategies to prevent people living with HIV from contracting infectious diseases like the flu and gastro infections.

The participants were strongly advised to avoid unsafe sexual interactions.

The orientation gave the attendees a newfound optimism. The Gram Nirman team has grown more self-assured to knock on the doors of the vulnerable and lift those who are more in need of our assistance. When health is wealth, home-based care for common and routine opportunistic infections has taken on a major role in determining people’s ability to support themselves. Effective and timely home-based care is the answer for the effectiveness of any interventions on people’s health in the current environment of overloaded public healthcare infrastructure and high-rise costs of private healthcare facilities.