Her health is now deteriorating sharp and she cannot pay Tk 8,700 every month to get her status checked. And unless she gets immediate medicare, she would die soon.

Rajia Begum (not real name), mother of an eight-month old child, cannot even think of her son's future. Rajia tested HIV positive when she was carrying for eight months soon after her husband died of Aids.

She still does not know whether her son is also an HIV positive, as doctors cannot confirm his status until he is 18-month-old.

Thirteen HIV carriers like Rajia and Afsana yesterday frankly narrated the sufferings and social stigma they undergo at a meeting with the lawmakers at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban yesterday.

Deputy Speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui, also chairman of Bangladesh Parliament Members Group (BPMG) on prevention of HIV/Aids and human trafficking, chaired the meeting.

While narrating their woes, some of the HIV carriers found their voices choked with emotion.

They said most parents turn their face away from their sons and daughters once they are detected with HIV/Aids. In some cases in Sylhet, schools did not allow children with HIV to attend class.

A fourth class employee of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) said he was terminated because of carrying HIV. He and his seven family members have been in misery since then.

The HIV positives appealed to both government and parliamentarians to provide them medical support, which they are being denied in hospitals.

The BPMG assured them of all-out assistance including medicines, treatment and moral support.

"We, the lawmakers, have been mandated by the people to direct any organisation to take welfare measures for the HIV victims," Hamid told the meeting. He expressed dissatisfaction at the misuse of funds for the HIV/Aids programme.

The BPMG also resolved that a massive HIV/Aids awareness campaign would be launched. The deputy speaker said that he would use his office to reinstate the sacked BIWTA employee as soon as possible.

The HIV carriers got a psychological boost as the lawmakers, journalists, and representatives from the UNDP, Unicef and other donor agencies had lunch with them.

"Today's meeting and lunch with the elite have given us the belief that we have not been alienated from the society," one patient told reporters after the meeting at the deputy speaker's office.

"We may have disagreement on many a political issue, but we are united on HIV/Aids issues,'' Ghulam Mohammad Quader, Jatiya Party lawmaker and also vice-chairman of the BPMG, said.

"It is significant that the HIV/Aids patients discussed their problems with the policymakers for the first time. We should utilise their experiences to combat the deadly virus," Faruque Khan, Awami League lawmaker and vice-chairman of the BPMG, said.

"The HIV/Aids patients should be given the chance to discuss their problems to help prevent further spread of the disease," Zahir Uddin Swapan, BNP lawmaker and vice chairman of the BPMG, said.