IIMA prof to aid wedding bells for HIV+

Gujarat will soon offer a matrimonial website for HIV positive people across the country. The website, currently under development by GSNP+ (Gujarat State Network of People living with HIV/AIDS), a community-based organisation formed by HIV positive people in Surat, is being co-designed with the help of a professor from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA).

Professor Rajesh Chandwani, also a faculty of Centre for Management of Health Services (CMHS) at IIMA, along with his team of researchers from GeorgiaTech, a leading research university from Atlanta, is helping GSNP+ with technological support and design implications.

GSNP+, an advocacy group working for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA), has been running a marriage bureau since 2007. However, realising community members were seeking companionship and were keen to find life partners, they decided a website would serve the cause better.

Sharing details, Amit Parab, manager, programmes, GSNP+ said, “Over the years, we had identified the need of people with HIV/AIDS to settle in life. In 2006, our first event bringing such people on one platform was organised. Since then, we have organised nine such events. Approximately 1,900 candidates have registered themselves with GSNP+ marriage bureau and we have conducted 240 marriages.”

Considering the increase in candidates and the expanding database, GSNP+ with help from IIMA has decided to develop a matrimonial website exclusively for the HIV-positive community and we will be launching it soon. A majority of the candidates are from Gujarat, said Parab.

Professor Chandwani added they had held preliminary rounds of discussion with the IIMA team. “As the beneficiaries are from PLHA community, we need to have special checks in place to ensure confidentiality,” he said, adding, “We wanted to work with community-based organisations. For one and a half years, we interacted with all the stakeholders who will be part of this project to understand their concerns.” He says the design implication process is over and the website is currently being created for testing purpose.

Chandwani added the platform will have only those people who register with GSNP+. “Also, it will only display education, age and overall geographical location. We will not be revealing the name of the person, photograph or phone number. Also, individuals will have to first register on GSNP+ in order to get registered on the website,” Chandwani said.

“It is not a regular website owned by an individual. But it is a community-based organisation trying to reach out to people, by the people. Hence, we assume acceptance level will be higher and the concerns and perceptions would be understood better,” he added.