AHMEDABAD (India) - TAKING medicines on time is a big part of a successful marriage for Ravi and Nima - an HIV-positive couple who met as a direct result of the enduring stigma attached to AIDS in India.

They met through a non-profit marriage bureau in India's western state of Gujarat that caters exclusively to HIV-infected people, setting up introductions and helping with legal issues for couples who choose to marry.

His wife Nima tested HIV positive in 2004 when she went for a medical check-up to confirm a pregnancy. She contracted the virus from her first husband who died in 2006.

The Gujarat Marriage Bureau for People Living with AIDS was the first of its kind when it set up in 2005, but there are now eight similar agencies across India, most of them established by people living with HIV.

The UNAIDS agency says some 2.5 million Indians are living with HIV - many of them ostracised by their communities. In the past four years, the Gujarat agency has arranged marriages for around 300 people. Those who register are required to make a full disclosure, including family details, complete medical history and economic status.

For many who register, marriage with a fellow HIV carrier provides not just companionship, but also a practical base for dealing with the illness, including mutual monitoring of medication and sharing the cost of treatment.

Coordinator Rasik Bhua said the number of successful matches would be much higher but for the large gender imbalance among those who register.

In 2008, Mr Bhua signed up 1,200 infected men, but only 76 women - a disparity he attributed to the greater stigma attached to women with HIV which often prevents them doing anything that might bring attention to their condition.

NGOs working in AIDS prevention in India have logged countless cases of families rejecting members with HIV, doctors refusing to treat HIV-positive patients and infected children being expelled from schools.

In a country where the pressure to marry is very strong, a number of young, HIV-positive people agree to their parents' wishes even though they are aware of the risks of infecting their future spouses and passing the virus to their future children. -- AFP