Culture Shock

摘要

On The first floor of a crowded government hospital in Pune, India, several young pregnant wives wait, quiet and fearful. They are standing outside an HIV counselling centre. Inside, behind green hospital screens, counsellors comfort sobbing women who have just learned what it means to be infected by HIV ― for them and their unborn babies. These women had visions of a happy, married life. Instead, they have been handed a death sentence. It's a scenario that is beginning to play out all over India. Ironically, marriage ― not promiscuity ― puts Indian women at the greatest risk of contracting HIV. "It's a very bold statement," says Vinay Kulkarni, an HIV/AIDS specialist in Pune. "But unfortunately, it's true."