It's strange that people in the service industry hope to have no customers.

The Sao Va group is named after the most beautiful waterfall in Que Phong district ( Nghe An province ). In September 2021, the group was officially established with the support of the Center for Supporting Community Development Initiatives (SCDI).

The group has nine members; besides the leader, Lang Chung Hien, eight of them were former drug addicts, and seven of them are currently suffering from AIDS.

They once thought their lives were over, but now they have found a new purpose – to awaken others in similar situations with their stories, so that HIV patients in this impoverished district can receive treatment and live long, healthy lives.

The task of the Sao Va group members is to reach out to high-risk individuals, encourage them to get tested, take methadone to overcome drug addiction, or receive ARV treatment if confirmed to be HIV positive.

Mr. Lang Chung Hien (a staff member of the Que Phong District Health Center) - the leader of the Sao Va group - shared: "The members of the group are of the Thai ethnic group. With the advantage of being in the same situation and fluent in the language, the members are more easily able to reach and communicate with at-risk groups in the area than health officials ."

Que Phong district is characterized by its vast and scattered terrain, with "hot spots" concentrated in remote villages with difficult access. However, with dedication and responsibility, all members have overcome difficulties and successfully completed their work.

As of October, out of 32 new cases detected in the district, 18 were discovered by members of the group who encouraged testing and provided support for care and treatment.

Interestingly, although the services are provided completely free of charge, high-risk individuals or those infected with HIV are identified as "clients" of the group.

With the goal of providing the best possible health and psychological services, treating people with HIV as clients has helped reduce self-consciousness among those living with the virus and lessen stigma in the community.

Currently, the team is caring for 275 active clients and 375 regular clients. For active clients, team members meet once a month to communicate and encourage them to take Methadone to quit drug addiction and to enroll them in the ARV treatment program or continue ARV treatment if they have stopped treatment for any reason.

For traditional customers, every three months, local team members will contact them once to conduct tests and provide items such as condoms, syringes, and information on self-protection for themselves and those around them.

While for other service providers the more customers the better, for the members of the Sao Va group, the fewer customers the happier they are. Detecting HIV infections in the community is extremely important in preventing the spread of this devastating disease.

But if no new cases are detected, it proves that communication and prevention efforts have been effective.

"We conducted outreach and screening in Na Sanh village, Tien Phong commune - a village with a high number of HIV infections in the district - for three days but did not detect any cases. The most recent case was discovered in February 2022, suspected of infection when participating in the rescue of an HIV-positive person who had been injured in an accident, without knowing that person was infected," shared Lo Van Nhat, a member of the Sao Va group.

Mr. Ngan Van Un (44 years old, residing in Chau Kim commune) was one of the first people in Que Phong district to join a "peer support group" for people with HIV before joining the Sao Va group. Mr. Un used to be a village health worker but became addicted to drugs in 2012.

"Back then, heroin was readily available here. People would offer each other heroin to snort like they smoked cigarettes. At first, they just snorted it, but later they had to 'inject' it to get the 'high,' and then they contracted HIV from those shared injections. It's not even clear who infected whom," Un recounted.

Khoa Van P. (residing in Chau Kim commune) is only 22 years old but has been addicted to drugs for many years. At the end of 2021, P. fell ill but his family couldn't take him to the hospital because they were too poor. When P. became bedridden and barely breathing, his family sent someone to buy wood to make a coffin in preparation for his funeral. Upon hearing this, Mr. Un came and persuaded them to take P. for testing.

The test results showed that P. was HIV positive. "If methadone is 'gold' for addicts, then ARV is the only way for people with HIV to maintain their lives. You're young; being HIV positive isn't the end of your life. If you're determined and persistent in taking your medication, you can still live a healthy life," Un told P., encouraging him to seek treatment.

The joy of being able to help someone in a similar situation had just begun to blossom when sadness struck Un as his nephew, also a friend of P., was diagnosed with HIV due to sharing needles with him...

There were also times when members of the group found themselves in awkward or comical situations while taking people for HIV testing. That day, the group led by Lo Van Nhat and Ngan Van Un assisted a person under the influence of methamphetamine to get tested.

While high, the man mumbled about his father, who had passed away decades earlier. Nhat had to play along to convince the man to "listen to his father" and get tested.

After the tests were completed, the young man seemed more sober, so Mr. Un offered to drive him home. However, as soon as they reached the gate of the Medical Center, the young man had another psychotic episode, lunging forward and grabbing Mr. Un's neck. Struggling to resist the strength of a drug addict while maintaining balance to prevent the motorbike from tipping over, Mr. Un could barely breathe, his face turning bright red.

Luckily, the guys spotted him and came to his aid, "rescuing" Un. Still high on drugs, the young man rushed out into the street and started "swimming," giving the guys a scare and making them fear they might be held responsible if he accidentally endangered people.

A corner of Na Sành village - once an HIV hotspot in Tiền Phong commune.

Sadly, the majority of people infected with HIV or those at high risk belong to poor or near-poor households. Therefore, in addition to buying gifts and snacks to reach out to and educate clients about this devastating disease, members of the Sao Va group sometimes have to act as "motorcycle taxi drivers," providing free transportation for them to testing sites and to pick up medication.

When addicted to drugs, people are willing to steal property to sell or, at the very least, pawn their identification documents to get money to buy drugs. Meanwhile, in cases of suspected HIV infection, without identification documents, the group cannot complete the procedures for referral for testing and treatment.

"A citizen ID card can only be pawned for 200,000 VND, enough to buy a dose of drugs, but the interest rate can reach 10,000 VND per day. If the documents aren't redeemed, the client will face delays in intervention, and the longer it's held, the higher the interest and the higher the redemption fee."

"Sometimes my siblings pay out of their own pockets to redeem it, but sometimes I don't have the money myself and have to 'ask' the SCDI center for support," Mr. Lo Van Nhat shared.

Content: Hoang Lam

Design: Thuy Tien

06/01/2024 - 06:50

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/ky-la-nhung-nguoi-lam-dich-vu-nhung-mong-khong-co-khach-20240104113557050.htm