Community Liaisons are Resourceful and Persistent

April 06, 2018This week, we ’re featuring stories from frontline health workers all over the world. It’s just one of the ways we’re celebrating World Health Worker Week 2018. Imagine having to travel for hours to a faraway health facility to get regular, critical care —even though there’s a similar facility just down the road from your home.This is what Luis*, 49, struggles with in Western Guatemala. He wants to get the HIV care he needs, earn a living, and maintain his privacy all at the same time —but it’s difficult.“In [the closest] HIV clinic, there is a cleaning lady who lives a couple of blocks from my home,” he says. “If she sees me, the whole village will know I am living with HIV.”Clients like Luis fear social retribution, and worry that they won ’t be offered work if their HIV-positive status is found out. Luis opts not to seek care in the nearest hospital for this very reason. And due to employment reasons, he’s had to drop out of HIV treatment several times in the seven years since he was diagnosed.In Central America, where IntraHealth International leads theUSAID | Central America Capacity (CAMPLUS) Project in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama, social stigma is one reason why clients abandon their treatment plans. For some, the financial burden of traveling to a faraway health facility is too great —but so is the risk of running into someone they know closer to home. It’s a double bind.Community LiaisonsAccording to UNAI...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Source Type: news