Médecins Sans Frontières - Whispers of Hope (INT). No music

Unique Identifier Code / URN MSB253572

Date taken / Date Recorded 24/07/2025 2:21 PM

Expiration date 24/11/2030

Country India

Commissioning section MSF-INDIA

Photographer / videographer / producer Deepak Bhatia

Copyright MSF

Usage Rights (MSF) Advertising Campaign, MSF Publications, Social Media, MSF Fundraising

Formal Consent Copy available yes

Editor's rating ★★★ (F)

Video format h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661)

Duration 3m20s

Maximum Size 1920px × 1080px 505.03 MB

Special instructions Subtitles:

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My name is Kaushalya,

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and I’ve been associated with MSF for the past five years.

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Here, mental health is

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not just a department but a part of holistic care,

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where we work alongside the medical team.

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Just as the medical team treats patients physically,

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we work with them to address their mental health needs.

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Many times during individual sessions with patients,

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they often say one thing, “Why HIV?”

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If I had cancer, TB, or any other life-threatening disease,

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it would have been acceptable.

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But why HIV?

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This shows that the fear is

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not because of the life-threatening

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nature of the disease, but because of the stigma.

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The patients who come to us often face a lot of discrimination,

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not just from their families,

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but also from neighbors and others around them.

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In our project, we see many children

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who come with advanced HIV.

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Sometimes their parents are also positive,

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sometimes not.

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And in most of the cases where the children are positive,

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either their mother has passed away,

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their father has, or both are no longer alive.

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There was a very young girl, just 16 years old.

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When I met her, she would vomit out or throw away

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all her medicines.

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She directly told the doctor, ‘I don’t want to live,

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why are you giving me these medicines?

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When I built rapport with her, she said,

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‘No one loves me, so what’s the point of living?'

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There was a girl, around eleven years old, who came to us.

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She was very scared and withdrawn in the presence of others.

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She would only look down at the floor, avoiding eye contact.

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She had lived in isolation since birth

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She had lived in isolation since birth

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because her mother was HIV positive.

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In such situations, we use art therapy,

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involving finger and hand-painting,

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using watercolor.

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using watercolor.

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We also provide mindfulness meditation,

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which includes some breathing exercises.

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After doing these, they feel calmer and more relaxed,

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helping them refresh and regulate themselves.

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I remember one case

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where a patient was completely unresponsive and

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denied all treatment.

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We started counseling sessions,

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and gradually he began to speak. The first thing he said was,

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I want to die. I don’t want to live.

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Sometimes, we suddenly receive a call from an unknown number,

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and the person says, ‘I’m your old patient.

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I just wanted to say thank you

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because of you, I’m still alive.'

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Here, we make small but sincere efforts

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to help people overcome stigma and discrimination.

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Through mental health support and awareness,

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we encourage them and strengthen their

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coping skills so they can move forward even in difficult situations.