BOMBAY, India (UCAN) -- Bombay's Holy Family Hospital, managed by Ursuline of Mary Immaculate nuns, has opened a counseling center for patients suffering from the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) that leads to AIDS.

HOPE Center, sponsored by the Catholic Nurses Guild of India, which represents Catholic nurses in the country, is the first such center in Bombay, India's commercial capital, 1,410 kilometers southwest of New Delhi.

"Seven of us were trained to give pretest and post-test counseling for the HIV-infected and their families," said Ursuline Sister Georgia, head of the pathology department. She works part time at the center, which opened in May.

About 5 percent of the blood tests the hospital conducted for AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) have proved to be HIV-positive, she told UCA News.

Finding out one is HIV positive is like receiving a death sentence for many, hence the need to prepare patients to accept the reality, she said. Everything is done confidentially to reduce the social stigma attached to the disease.

Hospital executive director Ursuline Sister Marie Alberone said counseling is "very important because HIV/AIDS has a lot of connotations." The center also conducts an HIV/AIDS awareness course for hospital staff.

The hospital pastoral care department attends to spiritual needs of patients, especially the more than 50 percent who are Catholics. It also arranges for the spiritual needs of patients of other religions.

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