People living with HIV / AIDS: promoting health through partnership
De Gagne, D.
Aids Health Promotion Exchange 3(3): 1-3
1994
PMID: 12288088 Document Number: 294150
In 1992, eight persons living with HIV/AIDS, (PHIV), in Rwanda organized themselves into a self-help group,"Mirror of Health." One month before the war began, the group had evolved into an organization with about 200 members (all ages, men and women, Tutsis and Hutus); they have not been heard from since. While all PHIV must fight for their lives against the disease, those in developing countries have many additional problems. The first problem faced by PHIV is isolation, which must be broken to develop effective partnerships and promote one's own health. However, many people are not willing to identify themselves as PHIV; doing so invites discrimination, abuse, and loss of fundamental human rights. It seems as if your entire identity becomes that of a PHIV; your prior history is forgotten. You no longer ever contributed to society (and certainly never will) and are incapable of loving relationships, including sexual ones, without putting others at risk. PHIV who reveal themselves face disrespect, distrust, and lack of interest in the part they play in the response to, and treatment of, AIDS. The group in Rwanda received support from health care workers, community groups, and the government; the relief PHIV felt as a result of this was reflected in their general sense of well-being. Promotion of one's health begins by helping yourself, moves to helping others who are in the same situation, and ends with educating society in general. Many PHIV have spoken about living with the disease (care) to ensure that others do not become infected (prevention). The two should not be separated. When a PHIV worked with a District HIV Prevention and Care Team in Zambia, the knowledge and perceptions of the people attending the educational sessions were greatly enhanced. PHIV are putting a human face to the disease. They are not part of the problem, but part of the solution.