Stories from special rooms (final episode): The extended arms of doctors and nurses

SKĐS - In order to detect HIV-infected people in high-risk groups as early as possible, many people living in Khanh Hoa have joined together in a group, willing to be an extension of the medical staff...

Their daily job is to "infiltrate" and get to know people at high risk of HIV, such as homosexual men, to make friends, confide, and share. Once they have built trust, they quickly test the other person. They are also willing to support doctors in taking care of seriously ill HIV patients who do not have relatives nearby.

Ms. Hong Truc (middle) and some members of the CBO Dan Cong Anh group have just finished discussing a plan to reach out and test for HIV for many people in high-risk groups.

"I'm always here for you"

In early November, after a tiring day of work in the prevention and control of infectious diseases, Dr. Ton That Toan - Deputy Director of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Center for Disease Control (CDC Khanh Hoa) enthusiastically shared: In this province, there is a very good Dan Cong Anh CBO group, they have worked closely with CDC Khanh Hoa for many years in the work of HIV/AIDS prevention. Each member of the group has approached high-risk people very effectively, and at the same time performed HIV testing skillfully, with highly accurate results.

"They can access high-risk groups with HIV more easily than medical staff, thereby contributing to the earliest detection of HIV cases in the community to treat them, preventing the risk of infection to others," said Dr. Toan.

Following Dr. Toan's instructions, I went to a small room in a house on Phuong Sai Street (West Nha Trang). This is where discussions, common activities, work meetings... of the Dandelion CBO group take place.

Seeing the guests enter, Ms. Hong Truc - the group manager - immediately shared: The group is racing against time to test for HIV for high-risk people that the group members have just approached and convinced.

"I have to let them see that the room where we discuss work is a trustworthy place for them to come. At the same time, my identity is public, but theirs is absolutely confidential. This must always be maintained. When they are in a psychological crisis or confused, I gently tell them: 'I am always here with you'."

Nguyen Phi Nam

According to Ms. Truc, the Dandelion CBO group currently has 28 members. The group is supported by the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS and the Center for Improving Quality of Life to implement a number of activities such as communication to change behavior of groups at high risk of HIV, the benefits of preventive treatment, the benefits of condom use, outreach and testing in the community, etc.

From the small room – the main place of operation and communication – members of the Dandelion CBO group split up to go to many places to mobilize high-risk people to get tested for HIV.

After arranging some tools that often accompany trips to "hunt" high-risk people for HIV testing in the corner of the cabinet at the end of the room, Nguyen Phi Nam (22 years old) happily continued Ms. Truc: "I am an outreach worker of the CBO Dan Cong Anh group. I specialize in approaching homosexual men. To get people in this group to understand HIV from prevention to infection routes, and at the same time voluntarily get tested, it takes a lot of effort and time."

Nam's secret to being able to quickly test people at high risk for HIV is to give them confidence.

"I have to let them see that the room where we discuss work is a trustworthy place for them to come. At the same time, my identity is public, but theirs is absolutely confidential. This must always be maintained. When they are in a psychological crisis or confused, I gently tell them: 'I am always here for you,'" Nam confided.

Because of the trust built, more and more people came to the room which is the "headquarters" of the CBO Dan Cong Anh group to find Nam and some other friends to confide in.

Every member of the HIV testing group has a certificate and complete documents.

Love the doctors and nurses and stick with it.

According to Nam, he and some of his friends in the group sometimes spent days and nights sitting in the common room of the CBO Dan Cong Anh group to plan how to approach difficult-to-approach people, and at the same time discuss how to convince people they were familiar with to get tested for HIV.

The work is hard and time-consuming, but the financial support received is not worth much. However, every time they see the hardships of doctors and nurses caring for and treating HIV patients, they feel compassion and stick with the job.

Counseling and convincing others to get tested for HIV is time-consuming and labor-intensive, but many group members are happy to stick with it.

Like Nam, Le Tien Dat (in his 20s) came to the job of reaching out and communicating about HIV prevention and control as well as convincing high-risk groups to get tested, also because of his aspiration: There are fewer and fewer people infected with HIV, which means doctors and nurses specializing in treating this disease have less trouble.

"The most important thing to approach and convince people at high risk of HIV (mainly men who have sex with men) to get tested is to take the time to get close to them and gain their trust. Fortunately, I have basically done this, so some people did not collapse or faint when they received positive HIV test results," Dat shared.

According to Dat, there were high-risk people who he had to "persuade" for a whole month to come to the room where the CBO Dan Cong Anh group worked to get tested for HIV. There were also people who, after coming to the room, were so afraid of testing positive that they ran away. At that time, Dat had to follow them to continue persuading them.

"The key point to approach and convince people at high risk of HIV (mainly men who have sex with men) to get tested is to take time to get close to them and gain their trust."

Le Tien Dat

Currently studying at Khanh Hoa Medical College, Nguyen Thanh Phu (20 years old) also wanted to do something meaningful to help reduce new HIV infections, so he joined the Dandelion CBO group. During many days of attending lively discussions in the group's common room, Phu enthusiastically promoted HIV prevention knowledge as well as persuaded and tested high-risk people.

Dawn is always on the other side of tomorrow

Not only does she promote HIV prevention and control for people at high risk, another member of the CBO Dan Cong Anh group also regularly assists doctors and nurses in taking care of severe, terminally ill HIV patients, that is Ms. Thu Thao.

Ms. Thu Thao said she is always ready to support doctors in taking care of seriously ill HIV patients.

Ms. Thao shared that being able to help HIV patients with severe illness eat makes her very happy, because through that, she can help patients quickly regain their health. At the same time, for patients who have relatives nearby, she also propagates to them how to prevent infection.

"There are patients who are so weak that when they go for a TB test or receive some medicine, I help them walk. Sometimes, human love is also a special 'medicine' that brings seriously ill HIV patients back to faith in life and perseverance in fighting the disease," Ms. Thao confided.

According to Ms. Thao, there were days when she was in the common room of the CBO Dan Cong Anh group and received news of a late-stage HIV patient in the hospital, she immediately rushed to help take care of them, and at the same time encouraged them: Dawn is always on the other side tomorrow, don't be discouraged.

"Sometimes, human love is also a special 'medicine' that brings seriously ill HIV patients back to faith in life and perseverance in fighting the disease."

Ms. Thu Thao

While speaking clearly, Thu Thao's voice suddenly choked up, she was moved to tears: "There was also a case that made me cry. That was a man in Dien Lam commune (Khanh Hoa) who had late-stage HIV, had a weakened immune system, and had tuberculosis. He was shunned by his own relatives, so he collapsed very quickly. At that time, I decided to always be by his side to lift his spirits and encourage him to follow the doctor's instructions for treatment. Through this case, I just hope that people in society do not discriminate against people with HIV, and that relatives take good care of them," Thu Thao confided.

According to Ms. Hong Truc, members of the CBO Dan Cong Anh group who participate in HIV testing for high-risk people all have full papers and certificates in testing techniques. Everyone is dedicated to their work.

According to Dr. Ton That Toan, the CBO Dan Cong Anh group has provided a lot of support to doctors and medical staff in the work of preventing and fighting HIV/AIDS.

Dr. Ton That Toan added that from the small room where the CBO Dan Cong Anh group operates, the group members have been proactively going to many places to test people at high risk for HIV. This has greatly supported the doctors and medical staff in charge of HIV/AIDS prevention and control.

Source: https://suckhoedoisong.vn/chuyen-tu-nhung-can-phong-dac-biet-ky-cuoi-canh-tay-noi-dai-cua-y-bac-si-169251112103704804.htm