International Journal of Medical and Health Research

Authors
Dr. Marcia Waran, Dr. Arun Tyagi, Dr. Sharad Garudkar

Abstract
HIV infection today affects about 5.2 million individuals in India. In 2006 the most accurate NACO statistics showed a natural HIV prevalence in India of 0.36%. Every year throughout the world and particularly in Asia, an increasing number of people are infected by the HIV/AIDS pan­demic either directly or through someone they care for. AIDS is a chronic condition lasting months or years and a person with AIDS may move several times from home to hospital and back again. Much of the care of those with AIDS therefore occurs at home. The Salvation Army has been working with HIV since the beginning of the epidemic. We studied the effectiveness of home based care whereby care in the homes helps in reducing frequent infections, increases owner­ship of the problem, increases longevity and improves the quality of life. 1029 HIV positive patients from October 2010 to June 2015. There were 693 males, 297 females, and 39 were children. The average age ranged from 25 to 40 years. Those who participated in the program had better quality of life, learned the participatory health care and were not/ less afraid of the stigma of the disease. Moreover, the home based care is significantly more cost effective.