Partner Counselling and Referral Services (PCRS) for HIV in Armed Forces - Visiting a Blind Spot.
The Indian armed forces have over 5000 cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection since 1990. The spouses of the affected soldiers are at a constant risk of contracting infection if not informed of their husband's HIV status. The onus of counselling the spouse has been delegated to the commanding officer (CO) of the soldier as per policy. The spouses usually reside at their hometown away from the soldier's unit and bridging this "geographical discordance" and offering effective counselling becomes a tricky issue for the commanding officer (CO). This article examines the effectiveness of this strategy as practised in Indian armed forces.
Classified Specialist (Medicine) and Clinical Immunologist, Command Hospital (AF), Bangalore.
S
S
Shankar
Classified Specialist (Medicine and Chest diseases), Command Hospital (SC), Pune.
R S
RS
Chatterji
Consultant (Medicine and Nephrology), Command Hospital (SC), Pune.
N Ray
NR
Chaudary
Senior Advisor (Medicine), Base Hospital, Delhi Cantt.
L R
LR
Sharma
Classified Specialist (Medicine and Neurology), Command Hospital (SC), Pune.
S P
SP
Gorthi
Reader (Department of Internal Medicine), AFMC, Pune 40.
K
K
Shanmuganandan
HIV; Partner counseling