By Syed Zarir Hussain,

Shillong, Sep 2 (IANS) HIV carriers have criticised journalists for being insensitive and ignorant about the disease that has assumed epidemic proportions in India's northeast.

"I have come across journalists who refuse to shake hands, sit a few meters away and avoid eye contact with HIV carriers. I always thought journalists would help fight the stigma associated with AIDS," Vanlalmuana, president of Positive Network of Mizoram, told IANS.

Vanlalmuana, a HIV carrier for six-years, was not the only one who felt journalists were insensitive and ignorant about HIV/AIDS.

Heartrending tales of insensitive journalism were shared by a group of HIV-positive people who had come to attend a workshop on creating awareness and advocacy through print, radio and television.

"At times we have been described by journalists as AIDS patients. Probably they do not know the difference between HIV and AIDS," said Ratan Singh, an HIV-positive person from Manipur and the all-India chairman of Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS.

"If journalists are insensitive to the problem, how do we expect to remove prejudices from society?" asked a young girl from Nagaland. "At times we are asked very personal questions which is unfair."

Citing an example another HIV-positive person referred to the case of a four-year-old boy in Assam who was dismissed from school for being a HIV carrier.

The kid was admitted to a private school in eastern Assam and was at his bubbliest best when a newspaper and a local television channel 'scooped' the story that the boy's parents were also HIV carriers.

Following the reports, the family was forced to shift to Guwahati.

"We are ashamed that the media is so insensitive and irresponsible. It was not only unethical but libellous to directly or indirectly identify the family," a woman from Manipur told IANS.

Government agencies working in the area claim the level of awareness has increased. But facts belie reality.

"Even today I am described as an AIDS patient by many leading regional and national newspapers," said Jahnabi Goswami, a 30-year-old HIV-positive woman in Assam.

Goswami, the first person in India's northeast to have publicly declared her HIV-positive status in 2001, said landlords have evicted her at least a dozen times when they learnt she was a HIV carrier.

The northeast has been declared a high-risk zone with authorities fearing the epidemic may further spread because of the region's acute drug problem.

"Media can play an important role in fighting the stigma attached to the disease," said Sawmtea, president of the Mizoram People Living with HIV/AIDS Society.