People living with HIV were the worst hit during the testing times of COVID-19. An analysis of over 168,000 people worldwide who were hospitalized with Covid-19 showed in hospital death were greater in people living with HIV, regardless of factors like age, sex, and comorbidities.

An increasing body of evidence indicated that people living with HIV who acquire COVID virus were at heightened risk of requiring hospitalization and having poor clinical outcomes.

Data from the United States of America showed that people living with HIV who acquired COVID were much more likely to require hospitalization and suffer severe illness than people who were HIV-negative, while studies from England and South Africa have found that the risk of dying from COVID-19 among people with HIV was double that of the general population.

Advanced HIV disease and/or the presence of chronic comorbidities—which tend to be common in people living with HIV—appear to be strongly associated with poor COVID-19 outcomes in people living with HIV.

Acknowledging this substandard situation of people living with HIV , Tapas Foundation recently led a crowdfunding campaign in collaboration with @kidfarqpainda for the patients of HIV all over India.

30 ration kits were distributed to the families living with HIV in the city of Asifabad, in Telangana. These kits made adequate nutrition available to all the people living with HIV and helped them in fighting both, COVID and HIV by ensuring better immunity power.

One ration kit consisted of : 10kg Rice, Sugar 1kg, Tuwardal 1 kg, Oil 1kg , Tea 250 GMs , Mirchi 100 gm , Haldi 100 gm, Tamarind Powder 250 gms and 4 soaps for utensils and cleaning.

Under the cooperation and leadership of Jaya Kakran, we were able to reach and impact the lives of people living with HIV.