Conversation: Fr Desmond Daniels, Indian health worker

Sydney
6 January 2002

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Conversation: Fr Desmond Daniels, Indian health worker

Pastoral care for people affected by HIV/AIDS in India is hampered by fear, ignorance and a lack of resources, writes marilyn kerjean

Madras is fast becoming “the AIDS capital of the world”, says Fr Desmond Daniels (pictured), the director of health ministry for the Archdiocese of Madras, in southern India.

Fr Desmond visited Sydney recently to gain extra training in the pastoral care of HIV and AIDS affected people at St Vincent's Hospital and the Sacred Heart Hospice.

He offers some insight into another face of the universal Church.

“Pastoral care in the health apostolate is in its infancy back home,” he says.

And with India’s Christian population reaching only 2.3 per cent, he believes the healing ministry, especially to those isolated because of the prevailing stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS, is one of the most important ways of bearing witness to Christ.

Problems faced by the archdiocese’s health ministry are simple to articulate: HIV is increasing at a frightening rate, mainly spread through intravenous drug use or by the ever increasing numbers of highway prostitutes.

Hepatitis B and C are also increasing.

The figures are breathtaking. In 1999, 3.7 million people in India were living with HIV or AIDS. One estimate has 100 million Indians infected by 2010.

There is a lack of free, reliable, confidential and anonymous testing in India.

Access to basic health care in the poor regions of the archdiocese is also limited, says Fr Desmond.

And if people do become ill, often hospitals will

test them for HIV then refuse to admit those who test positive.

They may be sent away to a tuberculosis hospital but then there’s the risk of catching that disease as well.

If someone who is HIV-positive contracts TB, his or her condition is likely to proceed more rapidly to AIDS.

Because of ignorance, fear and genuine lack of resources, says Fr Desmond, the problems are over-whelmingly difficult to solve.

And it is people living in the poorer rural regions and slums who suffer the most.

Fr Desmond is a diocesan priest with the care of a small rural parish in Kovalam, about 30km from Madras city (now Chennai).

He says that he felt called - while studying for the priesthood - to “dedicate my life to helping youth in difficult circumstances”.

This took him to his work leading a network of priests who assist in providing health care out of already existing resources.

They have no extra funding for their health ministry.

But that hasn’t stopped them doing a lot of groundwork.

Fr Desmond has on his side an equally dedicated group of people, including the microbiologist who detected India’s first case of HIV.

So far he has set up a 25-bed treatment centre and strong village outreach services, including a day-care program providing medication, counselling, psycho social support, vocational, educational and training and employment services.

He is interested in a holistic approach to helping people with HIV/AIDS and also wants to ameliorate the effects of poverty and to reduce the high levels of illiteracy and unemployment, especially in the rural regions.

He believes this “mission” is a new facet of the priestly role within the Church and of his own special charism.

“In terms of models of priesthood, I felt (there was a) need to reach out to our youth in difficult circumstances, to go beyond the typical stereotype in terms of a ritualised understanding of priesthood into a more community-based approach,” he says.

His health ministry also includes pastoral care in hospital chapels (both public and privately run) and in building and maintaining the chapels.

“We have been networking,” he says, “to provide preventative education and services for schools and other assistance within the diocesan setting, for example through the family commission, laity commission and bible commission, the prison ministry and our lay spirituality centre.”

There are also continuing training programs for health workers and for chaplains.

While in Australia, Fr Desmond has taken the opportunity to consult organisations such as Caritas and AusAID about assistance in addressing health care in Madras but, for the moment, he welcomes any donations direct to the archdiocese.