Leaving Philadelphia behind, Rocky Braat moved to India to live at an orphanage for HIV positive children. “Blood Brother”, a documentary following Rocky’s journey, opens up a world of disease, poverty, and death as well as joy, laughter, and life. It is eye-opening to those who watch it, showing the raw, unfiltered struggles the children have to go through. “Blood Brother” brings up several problems that continuously occur throughout India, these problems include the need for education on HIV in rural communities and the limited access to medical assistance and hospitals in these rural areas. With my research focus being on child health and children with HIV, this applies to my research here in Mysore. These topics are also very important to the Maternal and Child Health Program at PHRI, focusing on engaging rural communities and educating them on medical issues such as HIV. These problems within “Blood Brother” also occur globally and are topics I wish to continue to research while I stay in Mysore. 

 

“Blood Brother” brings to light the educational need in rural communities on medical issues such as HIV. In order to tackle health issues within an area, the surrounding community needs to show their support. Discrimination against those infected with HIV has occurred in India since 1987 and continues to occur even today. Women have been thrown out of private hospitals for being HIV positive and it has gone as far as men being lynched and burned alive in their community for being HIV positive (Solomon, 2016, p.17). Families shun mothers, leaving her without support for her and her child and will sometimes even separate her from her children (Manian, 2018, p.138). Much of this discrimination is due to fear of catching HIV, in Blood Brother people in the community around the orphanage discover that it specifically caters for HIV positive children. Once this was brought to their attention, the community members immediately wanted the orphanage to be removed and no longer allowed their children to play with the children at the orphanage. Due to this discrimination and fear it made it difficult to treat the children within the orphanage, it also had negative effects on the children’s emotional health. “Blood Brother” also reveals the lengths people have to go to get medical attention. At one-point Rocky was carrying a young girl in critical condition on his scooter, to get her to a hospital. By the time they made it to the hospital, it was too late, and she had already passed away. The majority of people in rural areas have to travel more than 100 km to reach a healthcare facility, most of those facilities are private and so many end up having to pay for healthcare out of pocket (Singh, 2014). The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare found that 49.7% of Sub-centers and 78% of Primary Health Centers, the lowest level of public healthcare in India, are located in government buildings. This creates a problem in rural areas, forcing them to go to private health facilities. The is a reoccurring theme all over the world, creating a global health problem. Rocky is just one occurrence of many, where rural families were not able to make it to the hospital in time for treatment. 

 

While I am in India, I personally get to experience how the healthcare system works, I have learned about the health disparities and what help is needed in rural areas. Due to this, I take notice of certain details while watching “Blood Brother”, details that are usually overlooked. While I notice how far Rocky had to travel in “Blood Brother” to get medical care for one the children, others don’t take notice of such details. Those who watch “Blood Brother”, specifically Americans, only see the main theme throughout the documentary, which is the struggle of HIV and AIDS in children. They will see the inspiring sorry as did I and the lengths Rocky goes to in caring for these children, but their interpretation of the documentary is where we split. Others who watch “Blood Brother” view it as a cry for help when it comes to HIV testing and treatment and donate money to these causes as a solution. While “only 31% of children aged 15 years and below [are] eligible for antiretroviral (ARV) treatment received it” in the top 22 countries with HIV (Goga, 2016, p.2), that is not the problem within the documentary. In “Blood Brother” all of the children had been tested for HIV and were currently receiving ART, this concludes that HIV testing and treatment were not a problem at the orphanage. The main struggles that occurred throughout the documentary were stigmas in the surrounding community and limited access to healthcare when needed. With these things in mind, people should take action towards fixing these problems specifically or donate money to charities or non-profits who provide education to the surrounding community or medical care to those in rural areas. 

 

I believe my reaction towards “Blood Brother” represents the analyzing techniques I have learned when it comes to global health issues and the actions needed for change. Due to the information I have learned so far in my global health research and PHRI, I have been taught that in order to make a change you need to develop specific steps. If you take Rocky’s case and analyze the problems that occurred, HIV testing and treatment are not the problems in their situation. Although “only 54% of children exposed to HIV [are] tested within the recommended two months” (avert.org) and even less are treated, those are not the problems within the documentary. The main problem is healthcare and giving access to healthcare in rural areas. Based on my interpretation I have found that I am beginning to delve deeper on global health issues and my research on children’s health, I am reviewing health problems and beginning to develop ways of possibly solving them. 

 

Sources:

 

Solomon, S., Kumarasamy, N., Challacombe, S. J. (2016).The Social Impact of HIV/AIDS in India. Oral diseases, 22. Retrieved from https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=114785855&site=eds-live

 

Manian, S. (2018). HIV/AIDS in India: Voices from the Margins. Retrieved from https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1535988&site=eds-live

 

Singh, S., and Badaya, S. (2014). Health care in rural India: A lack between need and feed. South Asian Journal of Cancer. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4014652/

 

Goga, A. E., Singh, Y., Singh, M., Noveve, N., Magasana, V., Ramraj, T., … Sherman, G. G. (2016). Enhancing HIV and Treatment Access and Outcomes Amongst HIV Infected Children and Adolescents in Resource Limited Settings. Maternal and Child Health Journal. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=3c28bb5a-47a5-4e24-9a5c-989ec93c96be%40sessionmgr4010

 

HIV and AIDS in the United States of America. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/western-central-europe-north-america/usa