Aiding those with AIDS

This year at the International AIDS conference held in Washington DC Delhi Network of Positive People DNP and its founder Loon Gangte were awarded the Red Ribbon Award for Human Rights and Advocacy In 1999 when Gangte was diagnosed with HIV he along with a few others set up DNP as a support group He says ldquoDNP was formed by a small group of drug users while I was undergoing my rehabilitation at Sahara Residential Care and Rehabilitation in New Delhi Our initial motive was just to share our feelings with fellow HIV persons as those days the stigma and discrimination was at its peak It was a support group for PLHIV People Living with HIVAIDS which till today is the back bone of DNPrdquo he explains Delhi Network of Positive People founder Loon Gangte Pic AFP photo Since formally registering DNP as a community based organisation in the year 2000 Gangte has been working towards making treatment for PLHIV more accessible His team supports antiretroviral therapy ART clinics in spreading awareness about treatment and on the advice of doctors in government hospitals they also visit homes of ART defaulter clients and bring them to the clinic While Gangte appreciates the Red Ribbon Award he is frank in admitting that itrsquos too early to determine its impact on their work since receiving it in July He says ldquoHowever I hope and wish that in the days to come winning the award will help highlight the issues we work on Fourteen hundred organisations from 120 countries applied for the award so it feels good to be selected among the 10 winners I also feel honoured that just before receiving the award Aung San Suu Kyi addressed the gathering via live a video conference from Myanmarrdquo he says over the phone Gangte has attended four International AIDS Conferences but says ldquoThe most boring was at Washington DC this year It was the dullest as the most HIV vulnerable population mdash drug user groups and sex worker groups mdash were absent due to US travel restrictionsrdquo Gangte who has also been diagnosed with Hepatitis C says that this virus will be a priority agenda for DNP in the next year Right now DNP is facing both obstacles and triumphs Gangte says ldquoThe US European Union and several big pharmaceutical companies who consistently and in various forms try to block Indiarsquos Generic ARV production are our biggest hurdles But our latest triumph was last month when through the intervention of DNP two surgeries were conducted at Delhi Hospital after sending a legal notice to the hospital as they had initially denied surgeryrdquo Perhaps DNP is Gangtersquos way of passing on the support he received He reminisces ldquoWhen I was diagnosed and when we formed DNP I was at Sahara Rehab Our director Mr Neville Selhore gave me a tight hug and whispered in my ear ldquoLoon I am with you no matter whatrdquo That is the simplest and most powerful emotional support Irsquove received Neville Selhore is the most humble and unique person I have come acrossrdquo He adds that hersquos never been hospitalised or spent money on medicine except on the occasional seasonal cold or cough Itrsquos not all work for Gangte though The 45 yearold takes time out to play with his two lsquocutenaughtyrsquo sons both are HIV negative and occasionally goes to the gym or plays soccer mdash something that he used to do often before his hectic travels On weekends ldquoI take my kids to the park and sometimes go for a concert or a party Sunday is reserved for my God and I mostly go to Church In the midst of all this I log onto Facebookrdquo he says chuckling u00a0