Harry (name changed), a sex worker who belongs to the men who have sex with men (MSM) community, says he will never forget how doctors and nurses at a government hospital in the city refused to touch his HIV+ wife when she was admitted to deliver their child some years ago.

“They made my sisters deliver the baby. We were discriminated against and humiliated at every step. We were made to feel like maggots had erupted all over our bodies. I would rather die than seek treatment and care at a government hospital,” he said.

Harry and his wife, both HIV+, are among the many people in the Capital who require medical care and support to continue their lives with the disease. India is home to the world’s third largest HIV population after South Africa and Nigeria.

Directions issued by the Health Ministry in 2015 state that anyone who tests positive for HIV is put on antiretroviral therapy (ART). The therapy boosts the CD4 count, which is a measure of the robustness of the body’s immune system and protects against potentially fatal infections (tuberculosis and pneumonia), besides lowering the viral load and the risk of infecting others. ART prevented 1.5 lakh AIDS-related deaths every year between 2007 and 2011.

But what about the people who have opted to turn away from this government aid? It is for them that the AIDS Healthcare Foundation [AHF], among the largest global organisations working in the area of AIDS, started the People’s Clinic. The clinic focuses on delivering state-of-the-art HIV/AIDS medical care and services to people living with HIV [PLHIV] regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. Our aim is to ensure that everyone in India is able to access HIV services,” said V. Sam Prasad, country program director of AHF India Cares.