It came as a sudden blow for Kamal Hossain, 36 (not his real name).
Published : 30 Nov 2013, 05:19 PM
After a clinic near his garment factory in Narayanganj found his blood HIV positive, the news spread to his workplace.
He and his wife lost their jobs and the landlord refused to let them live in his apartment.
After a few days in hiding to avoid the furore, the couple found a place in a centre in Dhaka.
Hossain was narrating his horrendous experience to bdnews24.com from the centre on Saturday, a day before World AIDS Day.
The theme of this year is achieving the 'Three Zeros' – zero new infections, zero AIDS deaths and zero stigma and discrimination.
Bangladesh boasts of low HIV/AIDS prevalence, but the stigma runs very deep even with the healthcare providers, that UNAIDS warns, can frustrate efforts to achieve the 'Three Zeros'.
Hossain looks like a healthy man. But when doctors told him about his HIV status in Feb, he says his heart 'just dried up'.
He said the news spread so quickly within the community that many came to their home for a good-bye last look.
The landlord of the rented house where they used to live nearby the garment factory came to know that both of them were HIV positive and asked them to leave ‘immediately’.
“We just managed to hide in a place for some days at a far off place.
“Later one of my younger brothers managed information about this centre and then we came,” Hossain sighed a relief, “Life changed”.
He also got a job at the centre and managed a healthy living with free drugs supplied for both of them.
Both of them were tested again at the centre and found HIV positive.
Hossain said that his wife was infected with HIV when she underwent a major brain surgery three years back.
“I had to manage more than 10 bags of blood for her (brain surgery) in 2010. The virus came to her body from the blood bought and then it passed to me.
“But we were not aware of this until this Feb. Despite worsening health, both of us were so busy working for survival”.
Hossain said before telling him his HIV status the doctors charged him whether “I had unsafe sex around”.
“They told me straight you got AIDS, you will die soon. Your wife is also infected”.
Executive Director of Ashar Alo Society Habiba Akhter who champions the cause of HIV infected patients says after more than 20 years of detecting the first case in Bangladesh, the HIV stigma is beginning to come down somewhat.
She is herself affected by HIV.
“But it (stigma) is widespread among the healthcare providers. Some of them directly drive them (people with HIV) out of their clinic. And others refer them from one place to another”.
The government record shows Bangladesh has less than 3,000 people living with HIV until last year.
But the UN estimates the number at more than 8,000, which means many are left without treatment because they are not capable of braving the stigma.
She said even a big hospital in Dhaka rejected one of their patients with HIV positive for his gall bladder operations this year.
“They write in big letters in his prescription that he is HIV positive and put a seal ‘no bed vacant’ ”, said Akhter.
Line Director of the National AIDS/STD Programme, Dr Md Abdul Waheed, however, said these were “scattered incidents”.
“Things have improved than before,” he said.
“We have less HIV/AIDS patients. So it’s not difficult for us to treat them”, said Dr Waheed.
He said they were preparing five medical college hospitals in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna, and Rajshahi from where one-stop service would be provided to HIV patients from January.
“So I think there will be no problem in future,” he said.
Waheed's optimism is not shared by Ashar Alo Society’s Akhter who give shelter to many like Hossain.
“I have visited such a centre at Chittagong Medical College Hospital. It is a filthy abandoned small room.
“Patients will stop going there. It is very difficult to keep people with HIV on drugs for long. The new government centres will discourage them all the more,” she said.
“And they will not find doctors after the office time. They also have fears of their status being disclosed in hospitals,” she said suggesting “strong government and NGO collaboration” for their treatment.
Hossain who was narrating his own experience was also sceptical.
“In 10 days (in Feb) I lost 20 kgs. The clinic sent me in a tizzy and I was so frightened”.
“But here I found many living with HIV for 15 years, 20 years and even more. You can't believe they have been living with HIV. They are very healthy,” Hossain said, insisting he has gained weight at the centre.
Then came the unbelievable -- the news that his HIV positive wife is also pregnant.
“The clinic told me we will not survive…forget about children…no possibility. But here we came to know that my wife still can give birth to a healthy baby with proper drugs”.