Journey after the exposure

It was a bold step for them when five HIV/AIDS positive people decided to face the national TV last year in December. And much has happened since then, says BO’s JIGME WANGCHUK.

Incense burns in the low evening light, and the rays of the fading sun turn the wisps of smoke into sloping shafts of blue light.

A slender figure is reading from a paper, stopping intermittently to take down some notes. Wangda Dorji is not quite certain what agendas to take to the dashboard meeting of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on January 30.

But he has time enough to discuss with his colleagues at Lhak-Sam, the only network of HIV positive people in Bhutan, of which Wandga is the founder and director.  Since its establishment in September 2009, Lak-Sam today has 107 members, all HIVpositive.

HIV/AIDS is no more a taboo subject. With Wangda Dorji and his wife Tshering Choden and three of his friends coming live on BBS television on December 1 last year, stigma against the disease has waned considerably. Other HIV positive people who have been hiding from the public are not feeling shunned anymore.

Soon after Wangda Dorji and his friends came out on television, four HIV positive persons – all male – joined Lhak-Sam – two from Phuentsholing, one from Trashigang and one from Samdrupjongkhar. Women, Lhak-Sam says, are still very hesitant and not forthcoming. Six more positive people called to enquire what Lhak-Sam does and how it could benefit them if they joined. They are yet to decide.

The four who joined Lhak-Sam recently have all too familiar stories to share, of pain, neglect, shame and loneliness. They have been hiding from the public for more than six years.

“They told me that with our coming out in public, they felt they still have friends with whom they could share their experiences and grief,” says Wangda Dorji. “Much has happened with Lhak-Sam since then. Looking back, our coming out was a right decision on right time.”

However, even as many positive changes are taking place with regard to the disease, Wandga Dorji thinks there is more to be done to strike at the root of the disease and the way people look at it.

“Campaigns don’t always work,” he says, pulling out a 4-page report he’s written about his tour to Nepal last year. “Some members are still undecided whether they should go public or not. Lhak-Sam doesn’t force for them. It is left entirely up to them.”

On December 23, 2011, Wangda Dorji took along with him 9 Lhak-Sam members to Nepal on a study tour to understand how networks of positive people were established and functions. The six-day tour was sponsored by UNDP.  They returned on December 30.

“Because Lhak-Sam is relatively new and the only organisation for the HIV/AIDS run by positive people, we felt we should learn from such organisations in Nepal, where it is a big success,” says Pema Dorji, one of the five who came out open on television on December 1 last year.

What they witnessed there amazed them all. They were encouraged to do more here at home.

They visited eight NGOs dealing HIV/AIDS, some for homosexuals, some for man-to-man sex and some dealing with commercial sex workers. The NGO-government health collaboration is robust in Nepal, better than any country in SAARC region, which is why Lhak-Sam chose Nepal for their maiden tour.

“From the experiences of existing networks in Nepal, Lhak-Sam is going to design and implement networks of people living with HIV to intervene in the socio-cultural context of Bhutan,” says Pema Dorji. “They were more than willing to share information and exchange experiences.”

Nepal has about 75,000 people living HIV/AIDS as per the latest UNAIDS record. HIV in Nepal is a concentrated epidemic, where more than 80 percent of HIV infection is spread through heterosexual transmission.

“Our health system and organisations and individuals concerned should work a bit more in the areas of AIDS in our country. If Nepal can effectively address the problem with over 70,000 HIV positive cases with so much government support and networks, Bhutan could easily do it,” says Wangda Dorji. “We have only about a hundred positive cases. There has to be good coordination between CSOs and health organisations.”

Lhak-Sam also believes the government should introduce fixed dose (all in one) medication for the positive people. At the moment, person living with HIV/AIDS is given a 6-tablet daily dose of anti-retroviral drug. Wangda Dorji even suggested the ministry that it could introduce fixed dose in Bhutan. But the ministry gave some vague technical justifications.

“With the current dose, there is a danger of positive people getting discouraged to take so much medication for a long period of time,” said Wangda Dorji.

One Response to “Journey after the exposure”

1. Journey after the exposure | NewsoftheWorld.nu says:

   January 22, 2012 at 4:03 am

   [...] It was a bold step for them when five HIV/AIDS positive people decided to face the national TV last year in December. And much has happened since then, says BO’s JIGME WANGCHUK. Incense burns in the low evening light, and the rays of the fading sun turn the wisps of smoke into sloping shafts of [...] Bhutan Observer Newspaper – Bhutan news [...]

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