TRAUMATIC JOURNEY COMES TO AN END FOR BENCY

TRAUMATIC JOURNEY
COMES TO AN END FOR BENCY

Bency (15), one of the two HIV positive siblings who had become one of the most poignant faces of children living with HIV in the state, died at the Sri Avittam Tirunal (SAT) hospital on Thursday 6th may 2010 evening following a brief illness. Bency had been admitted to the SAT hospital on monday with measles. However, her condition became progressively worse as she contracted a respiratory infection. She died of HIV encephalitis. The siblings hail from Adichanelloor, Kollam.
Bency's body was taken to kollam. Bency and her brother Benson(12) had been under the care of their grand parents Geevarghese Johny and Salamma ever since their father, Chandy, died in 1997 due to HIV and their mother Princy, in 2000 since 2005 after the death of their grand father, Salamma has been their sole carer.
Both children had been diagniced as HIV positive in 2000. They came under media glare when they were thrown out of school in 2003 as their HIV positive status became known to the outside world. The social discrimination faced by the children and the isolated life they led made national head lines.
It was through the relentless efforts of the state government, the kerala state AIDS control society as well as several individuals who championed for their cause that the siblings could resume their studies and lead near normal lives. Bency and Benson were among the first to be put on first-line Anti Retroviral therapy(ART) in the state in 2003. The then Union Health minister Sushma Swaraj herself had visited the children and intervened on their behalf to secure them the ART.
How ever, as Bency proceeded to the AIDS stage, extreme wasting too set in and she began to lose weight steadily. In 2008 march, she was put on second-line ART drugs. Since 2003, the HIV treatment as well as all care and support activities for Bency and her brother were being sponsored by Hindustan Latex Ltd. The condition of her Brother Benson (12) was stable now.
As the constant campaign on AIDS awareness began producing results, the siblings were given admission to one of the schools that earlier denied them admission. Bency and Benson were studing at the Adichanaloor Panchayat High School with other children. Bency was in class 9 and had been promoted to the class 10

Prof. John Kurakar