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"Village doctors fill the breach in HIV
control"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(30/10/05)
BEIJING: Villages are where 70% of China’s HIV and AIDS cases are found, so
it’s little wonder that a pilot project to fight the epidemic has its roots
in rural areas of Southwest China’s Yunnan province.
Started by the local governments in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous
Prefecture in the province in May, the project has made progress despite
challenges.
In five villages in Longchuan and Yingjiang counties, a comprehensive
prevention-and-treatment programme is in place which includes public
education, HIV testing and consultation, high-risk activity intervention,
treatment and social projects.
Village doctors, typically farmers who are given basic training in
healthcare and are paid a nominal sum, had become the main force behind the
project, said Teng Yun, director of the HIV/AIDS Control Centre in the
prefecture.
In the two counties, which border Myanmar, about 80% of the HIV/AIDS victims
were infected after using contaminated hypodermic needles while taking
drugs.
Since 1989, when the first case was found among drug abusers in Longchuan,
the virus has spread from seven villages to 214, infecting 1,865 people.
Therefore, the government has taken a new approach by sending health workers
to the villages, instead of being based in counties or towns.
In the spring of 2003, the central government launched a nationwide campaign
for comprehensive control in dozens of counties where the epidemic was
considered serious.
Free services, such as testing for HIV, treatment and education, are
provided.
“However, our workers and doctors, who are based in the town centres, are
too far away from the rural sufferers,” said Mei Hongying, director of the
Longchuan HIV/AIDS Control Centre.
“The (Yunnan) project lets village doctors play a vital role in helping the
villagers fight against the deadly virus.”
In the past two months, local doctors gave free HIV tests to people aged 15
to 60 in the two pilot villages in Longchuan.
They were trained in intervention work, such as handing out condoms and
instructing patients how to take medication correctly, Mei said.
“We can do it because we are their neighbours, familiar with all their
problems,” said Yin Zuluan, a 34-year-old village doctor of Guangsong
village. “The villagers trust me.”
However, the pilot project has also encountered problems. For instance, most
village doctors each get a salary of less than 100 yuan (US$12) a month, and
many of them do not have a chance to receive advanced training.
Generally there are only one or two doctors per village.
“It is very hard for me to provide follow-up service and do intervention
work among all the families, many of whom live far in the mountains,” said
Luo Lu, a village doctor in Longchuan.
“Many poor villagers,” Yin added, “cannot afford the bus fare for the trip.”
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