The experiences and livelihood strategies of poor people living with HIV/AIDS in Kolkata, India

Dam, Rinita (2013). The experiences and livelihood strategies of poor people living with HIV/AIDS in Kolkata, India. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

Preview

Dam13PhD.pdf
PDF - Redacted Version
Download (4MB)

Abstract

The international literature, policy and action up to now have concentrated predominantly on the prevention and treatment aspects of HIV/AIDS, often neglecting the support and care that poor people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) require. The current study addresses this gap by exploring a group of poor PLHAs’ own perceptions of their experience of living with and seeking treatment for HIV/AIDS, the adequacy of the health care services they are able to access and the support programmes for PLHA provided by NGOs and other not-for-profit organisations in the context of Kolkata - one of the largest metropolitan cities in India. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 59 men and women from Kolkata, India.

The study reveals that in the case of HIV/AIDS, it is necessary to divide the post-symptomatic phase into pre and post-diagnosis stages, because it emerged that many PLHA had experienced serious delays in obtaining an accurate diagnosis, resulting in the loss of their existing assets, further impoverishing many at an early stage of the illness trajectory. People’s ability to mobilise additional labour assets within their households to ‘earn money in new ways’ and the characteristics of their ‘household relations’ emerged as key explanations of how well households fared during the post-diagnosis phase.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):