Vietnam barbers spread anti-AIDS message
HAIPHONG - ``Barber Tien'' snips away at the mop of
dark hair in front of him, chatting with his young male customer.
``You really must use condoms if you are sleeping with more than one woman
because you don't know who could have AIDS (news - web sites),'' he says
as he trims.
``What if you got AIDS and then passed it on to your wife?''
The slim man in the barber's chair tilts his head backward as Barber Tien reaches for his razor.
``But condoms don't feel comfortable,'' the customer says.
``Maybe you aren't using them properly? Besides, isn't it better to be safe?''
Tien is one of 50 barbers in this busy port city, 60 miles east of Hanoi, who have been trained as AIDS
educators by nonprofit organization Family Health International.
They work in teams of 10 and set up their stands by the roadside. On their mirrors are stickers which
read ``Condoms are wonderful to stop AIDS'' and ``Sharing needles is bad.'' Underneath shelves
stacked with scissors lie comics and information sheets on HIV, the virus that
causes AIDS.
In a country where access to mass media is limited, this kind of one-to-one communication is proving
vital in getting the AIDS message across.
``Often people need to ask questions and interact,'' says Thomas Kane, Vietnam director for Family
Health International.
Very effective way
``Interacting with your peers ... can be a very effective way to communicate messages on how they can
protect themselves and their families,'' Kane said.
But it's not just the barbers of Haiphong who spread the word on AIDS -- a team of 20 shoeshine
boys also pass on the message as part of efforts to halt the spread of the fatal disease.
The projects have been running for six months and tens of thousands of customers have been given
information about AIDS.
``It's not only the public who is benefiting from this campaign,'' said FHI's Kane. ``It is also doing
wonders for the self-esteem of the barbers and shoe shiners ... they know they are making a
difference.''
Around seven million people in Asia live with HIV/AIDS, while some 500,000 die of the disease each
year, according to figures from UNAIDS, the coordinating U.N. body.
Preventing the spread of the disease will be a major focus at the Sixth International Congress on AIDS
in Asia and the Pacific, to be held in Australia on October 5-10 and experts in Vietnam, like those
elsewhere, say more has to be done.
``If you focus on prevention early, then the epidemic won't spread to the magnitude that it has in
Africa,'' says FHI'S Kane.
``We really have to do more on prevention efforts ... we have a little bit of time up our sleeves, but we
need to work fast.''
In Vietnam, ``high risk'' groups such as intravenous drug users and sex workers are most likely to
contract the disease that has spread with frightening speed since the first HIV-positive case was
reported in the country in 1990.
Official figures show around 40,000 people were HIV positive as of June this year but health workers
say the total is more than three times that number.
Littered with syringes
And the widespread drug problem in Haiphong, as in many other parts of Vietnam, means the infection
spreads rapidly.
Many streets in the city are littered with syringes and it is common to see people injecting themselves
with heroin.
Down by the train tracks, desperate for a fix, addicts squat in groups -- slapping each others' arms and
passing needles around.
Some 70 percent of intravenous drug users in Haiphong are HIV positive and the government, together
with FHI, has now set up drop-in centers for users, where they can pick up clean needles and learn
about the health risks they face.
One such shelter opened in October and as well as getting free condoms and health information those
who drop by can also play table tennis and visit consulting rooms.
``I'm very glad to be able to come here because the center is like my home,'' said Loi, 35, a heroin
addict.
``Normally we would be out wandering the streets, I think if the center wasn't here we'd be so sad and
would have a very hard time.''
Many of those who come to the center are HIV positive and are glad of the safety the shelter offers.
Minh contracted the disease two years ago when he was 32 but says information he was given here
helped prevent him passing on the disease to his wife.
``People who don't come to places like this and don't have knowledge about HIV can easily get AIDS
if they are injecting,'' he says.
``When you get a heroin craving, people don't care...it's normal for two or three people to share one
needle.''
Doan Van Minh, a worker at the center, says the real work is getting the addicts to see how much
danger they are in.
``Many of them are shocked to find out about AIDS, and we encourage them to tell all their friends
who are drug users to be safe when they inject heroin by not sharing or reusing needles.''
By Angela Takats - Reuters - October 3, 2001.
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