Migration as a risk and a livelihood strategy: HIV across the life course of migrant families in India
Author(s)
Rai, T
Lambert, H
Ward, H
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Migrant workers are understood to be vulnerable to HIV. However, little is known about the experience of migration-based households following HIV infection. This qualitative study examined the migration-HIV relationship beyond the point of infection, looking at how it affects livelihood choices, household relationships and the economic viability of migrant families. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 33 HIV-positive migrant men and women recruited from an anti-retroviral therapy (ART) centre in north India. Following infection among the migrant men, contact with free, public-sector HIV services was often made late, after the development of debilitating symptoms, abandonment of migrant work and return to native villages. After enrolment at the ART centre participants’ health eventually stabilised but they now faced serious economic debt, an inflexible treatment regimen and reduced physical strength. Insecure migrant job markets, monthly drug collection and discriminatory employment policies impeded future migration plans. HIV-positive wives of migrants occupied an insecure position in the rural marital household that depended on their husbands’ health and presence of children. The migration-HIV relationship continued to shape the life course of migrant families beyond the point of infection, often exposing them again to the economic insecurity that migration had helped to overcome, threatening their long-term survival.
Date Issued
2016-03-22
Date Acceptance
2015-07-28
Citation
Global Public Health, 2016, 12 (4), pp.381-395
ISSN
1744-1706
Publisher
Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Start Page
381
End Page
395
Journal / Book Title
Global Public Health
Volume
12
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Sponsor
Wellcome Trust
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust- BRC Funding
Grant Number
090285/Z/09/Z
RD710
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Migration
HIV
qualitative
India
livelihood
RURAL SOUTH-AFRICA
LABOR MIGRATION
HEALTH-CARE
QUALITATIVE DATA
SELF-MANAGEMENT
ADULT MORTALITY
SEXUAL RISK
HIV/AIDS
HOUSEHOLDS
AIDS
1117 Public Health And Health Services
Public Health
Publication Status
Published