"It's really important for people who are HIV positive to reach out to let other people know that they can be tested, they can find out they can still live a life -- a positive life, a happy life."
Laura Bush
We bring to you part two of our article on HIV/AIDS. Many thanks to the co-operation of David Belluz for his photographs and insight into the facts that are highlighted by his photography.
Below is a short excerpt of David's poignant thoughts regarding HIV/AIDS in Cambodia.
''There are many questions about future quality of care as the NGOs curtail their spending and the government takes on more financial and medical care responsibilities. There are also new pressing issues involving people living longer with HIV thanks to ARV treatment but they need assistance with reintegration, employment, food, life skills, etc. There is a very interesting phenomenon of men and women with HIV meeting in the HIV wards and starting relationships with each other after they leave the hospital and receive ARV treatment. They live together because they are both HIV positive and ARV treatment makes them healthy enough to maintain fairly normal lives - lives that can be extended by up to 40 years. But almost all of these people will need financial assistance, housing, and medical care. So there are new spending requirements and resources must be used differently to help these people - something that is happening today but not to the extent it should be or needs to be in order to reach the thousands of men and women living with HIV.''
Many thanks to David Belluz
All images below are subject to copyright and published with the permission of the photographer and should not be published without their express permission.
''In Cambodia, the predominant mode of HIV transmission is sexual contact, primarily through heterosexual sex. While the epidemic has been primarily concentrated in groups that engage in high-risk behavior, including sex workers and their clients, police officers, and military personnel, the epidemic in Cambodia is now considered a general epidemic as HIV is spreading from those individuals to their spouses and partners. Only 3 percent of Cambodian women report having been tested for HIV, ranging from 14 percent in Phnom Penh to 0.1 percent in Kampong Thum.''
''An HIV positive woman on Anti-Retroviral medication sits inside her home on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. ARV has prolonged the lives of tens of thousands of Cambodians but this success has brought new challenges. Reintegration into hostile communities, lack of decent medical care in rural areas, and employers who are reluctant to hire HIV positive Cambodians are proving to be difficult obstacles to overcome for local and international NGOs.''
''Many Cambodians with HIV and their households face extreme economic, social, and psychological hardships. Families living with HIV/AIDS often exhaust their personal resources paying for inappropriate and ineffective treatment in the face of an insufficiently resourced health system. In addition, health problems can affect job performance and the ability to work.''
''A woman in an HIV ward in Phnom Penh. She suffers not only from HIV, but from TB, a disease that kills thousands of HIV positive Cambodians every year. In Cambodia, one in five people with HIV is coinfected with TB. TB is the leading cause of death in people infected with HIV as it quickens the disease progression.''
''Despite a drastic reduction in HIV rates, thanks in large part to improved medical care and HIV prevention programs, some NGOs fear many of the gains that have been made will be undone as the international community curtails spending and hands over more responsibilities to the Cambodian government, and in particular, to the Ministry of Health.''
Many thanks to David Belluz for the permitted use of his images. His photography speaks for itself and we urge you all to take a look at his website www.dbelluz.photoshelter.com/ . His assistance and kindness in producing the article was greatly appreciated.
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