British actor
Ralph Fiennes said Wednesday that he was moved by the
strength shown by India's HIV-infected rural population in
the face of severe social ostracism.
Fiennes spent the
last five days traveling to four villages in the
western Indian state of Maharashtra, listening to the
experiences of HIV-infected young people and children
as an ambassador for the United Nations Children's
Fund.
The actor, who
won an Oscar nomination for his role in The English
Patient in 1996, is currently famous for
portraying the evil Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter
films.
''What has moved
me is not the tragedy or the shadow over these people
but the strength it brings out in them,'' he said about
meeting with people who had been thrown out by their
families once it was learned they were
HIV-positive.
India, with 5.7
million infections, has the world's largest number of
people living with HIV and AIDS. Despite growing awareness
about AIDS and government assurances of free drugs,
social stigma is still common. People living with HIV
are often denied treatment in hospitals; many are
shunned by the communities they live in, and their children
are prevented from going to school.
Fiennes said it
was an eye-opener to see how HIV-positive people in rural
India tried to break taboos by talking openly about sex and
the need to use protection.
''One young man
had been tested without his knowledge--now he no
longer sees his children or his wife,'' Fiennes said.
''Hearing his story, other women also affected with
HIV began to cry because this was similar to the
stigma they faced.''
He said the
resilience of children who had lost one or both parents to
AIDS was remarkable.
There are about
202,000 children living with HIV in the country,
according to the United Nations Joint Programme on
HIV/AIDS figures, and about 60,000 children are
likely to be born with HIV each year.
''Education,
awareness, and prevention are the key, but stigmatization
and exclusion from family is what makes people suffer
most,'' Fiennes said. (AP)