HIV prevention, education & support in Hai Duong & Bac Kan provinces

In the provinces of Bac Kan and Hai Duong, HIV is an enormous health concern. Nationally there are estimated to be over 280,000 people with HIV and 8,300 new cases are diagnosed each year.

Background to the project

Policies and initiatives to tackle the growing problem, especially in remote and economically disadvantaged regions, are vital. Discrimination against people with HIV poses a great challenge to morale and self-esteem and must also be tackled head on. In many places the funerals of people who died of AIDS were previously not attended because of stigma. Through APHEDA's project, however, support networks, education and interaction have developed to change this attitude and promote HIV prevention strategies.

Project funding & local partners

In cooperation with the Bac Kan and Hai Duong Women's Unions, through a project jointly funded with the Olof Palme International Center of Sweden, Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has implemented a project aimed at increasing HIV awareness in the two provinces.

Overview of the project

The focus of the project includes:

• what HIV and AIDS is,
• how HIV can be transmitted,
• how it affects those infected, as well as their relatives and the community,
• the social and economic impact of HIV,
• to educate communities to oppose discrimination against people with HIV,
• to develop and promote support for both those with HIV and their families.

The project is also designed to educate people living with HIV/AIDS about existing systems of care and support, as well as basic information about treatments for opportunistic infections and antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). The project provides solutions and direct support to people with HIV and their families through income generation schemes and revolving loans.

Project activities

Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA's involvement in these projects has been to directly facilitate the introduction, or reintroduction, of AIDS clubs. These clubs provide a place where families can meet to discuss their experiences and knowledge about HIV and AIDS and how it has affected both them and their family. These clubs provide invaluable opportunities for people with HIV, their friends, colleagues and relatives and members of the general community to be equipped with relevant knowledge and skills. These include how people with HIV experience the world they are in, how community responses can shape peoples' experiences of living with HIV/AIDS, and how to dispel myths about HIV/AIDS that lead to discrimination.

Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has assisted the clubs by providing adult training materials to help in the education and interaction of club members and the community, by facilitating role playing, games and experience sharing. APHEDA has trained local activists with techniques on how to approach sensitive issues of concern in the communities and how to work with local people with HIV. The aim is to develop the capacities of local organisations and people to lead appropriate responses to HIV.

Through Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA's facilitation of the AIDS club in Hai Duong province, 65 members of the community (including 19 HIV positive people and their families) have been able to attend local support and education meetings. Free condoms, provided by the Department of Population, have also been disbursed through the HIV club to stem the rate of infection. In addition, seminars and mass public education meetings, with attendances of between 600 and 700 people, have been held in secondary schools to educate young members of the community about HIV.

Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has drawn on its experience and expertise in developing strategies for public education and involvement, in formulating of teaching materials, in assisting curriculum development and the coordination of training of educators. This enables local members of the community and people with HIV to deliver and play the leadership roles in educating their local communities. The project has allowed dozens of families and victims access to support, education, income generation projects and initiatives. There is now a network where people can freely express their feelings, concerns and grief in the community.

© Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA 2003.
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Last Modified: Wednesday, 21-Mar-2007 11:45:01 EST
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