Community Outreach Volunteers Help Clients Navigate HIV Prevention, Care, and Treatment in South Sudan

By Gladys Achan, Communications OfficerJuly 29, 2022Rose,* a 54-year-old widow and mother of five in Juba, South Sudan, is HIV-positive. She started antiretroviral therapy (ART) as soon as she was diagnosed with HIV in 2018 but did not disclose her status to her children right away—she knew her family might be at risk of contracting HIV and recognized that her children should be tested, but she felt a lot of self-stigma, which held her back from talking about it with them.Rose was also part of a religious community that preached against modern medicine and after listening to healing testimonies from others, she was convinced that she could be healed of HIV through prayer. She stopped taking ART for over two years and her health deteriorated. She lost weight and suffered from other infections related to HIV.Luckily, Rose met Sarah,* a community outreach volunteer working with IntraHealth International’s Advancing HIV/AIDS Epidemic Control (AHEC) Activity, a USAID-funded project. Sarah is also HIV-positive and, as a community health worker, she conducts outreach in her community. She shares her experiences with her clients and encourages them to test and know their HIV status, to adhere to ART treatment, and to visit health facilities regularly for viral load sample collection to attain viral load suppression.Sarah ' s support encouraged me to adhere to my treatment.Sarah met Rose while doing community outreach and Rose became one of Sarah’s clients. Sarah p...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: HIV & AIDS Community Health Community Health Workers Source Type: news