‘Diagnosed HIV+ve, doctor gave her 3 mths to live but ….’ How Nagaratna Ramagouda overcame fears & emerged a hero

Team Udayavani, Mar 8, 2021, 11:00 AM IST

Founder of Ashraya Foundation, Nagaratna Ramagouda is a mother, activist and is even working for HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support since 2004. Twenty-two years ago she was diagnosed as HIV positive and had no hope of living beyond three months, today she has emerged as a hero to many HIV-positive people in the North Karnataka region.

She was married to Sunil Ramagouda when she was 16. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago due to an alcohol overdose and not HIV, says, but that did not stop her from spirit.

Narrating about how she found out that she was HIV positive, Nagaratna tells, ” A few months after I had got married, my husband went to donate blood for one of his friends. But the doctor told him that he couldn’t donate as he was HIV positive. The very next day, he took me for a blood test and my result was positive too. We were told that we would not survive more than three months by a family doctor.”

Asserting that there was no counseling nor anyone to guide them, she adds that after she found out that she was pregnant, she feared that the child would turn out to be HIV positive but due to treatments and various procedures during childbirth, Nagaratna gave birth to a healthy child.

After giving birth to the child, she decided to dedicate her whole life to society.

Talking about the urge to give back to society, she asserts, ” There are women who are not aware of the steps to take during pregnancy and that is one of the reasons I started counseling many of them and telling them about the medicines they need to take to keep the baby safe, as these women need to counseled and given moral support that boosts confidence in them”

Following which Nagaratna started an NGO called Ashraya Foundation, in order to reach as many people as possible.  Ashraya Foundation today, is the first care home in Karnataka run for adolescent/orphan girls and underprivileged women and widows by providing shelter, food, education, medical treatment, and livelihood training.

India has the third-largest HIV epidemic in the world. Nagaratna along with her NGO aims to enable a platform for adolescent girls and underprivileged women infected and affected by HIV.