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Helping at-risk young women with free condoms, exams, advice
By Tan Weiyun |
January 4, 2010, Monday
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YOUNG women in heavy makeup and short fashionable clothes enter the female doctor's room awkwardly and timidly. They snatch some condoms from Dr Yao Ying and hurriedly walk out.
These women working in nightspots in Hangzhou's Shangcheng District are taking part in HIV/AIDS Intervention, a successful project launched three years ago by Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
They are at high-risk for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) from their work in the district's hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, sauna centers, dance halls, pubs, beauty salons, foot massage parlors and many other entertainment venues.
"We have to go with their time schedule," says Dr Yao, a researcher at the center. "They are busy at night and during the daytime, most of them are sleeping."
It can be difficult to gain access and win the trust of the young women, who are often wary. Many times the team was turned away from an establishment, sometimes by guards and bouncers. Sometimes they were told to return the next day, only to find the place closed.
So far, around 2,000 young women have taken part in the program.
"Now everything is running on the right track, but it was really difficult at the beginning," says Dr Hu Jingfeng, chief of the Prevention Department of the Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The team, made up of 40 medical experts and social workers, distributes condoms and offers free physical checks and consultations on reproductive health. It's strictly voluntary.
In its first five months, the team took 267 blood samples from 257 women aged from 16 to 51. Some cases of venereal disease turned up, but no HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
The district has around 350 entertainment venues.
"Shangcheng District is one of the most developed districts and the entertainment industry has been booming for many years," says Chen Shuchang, deputy director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
After collecting blood, the team stays in frequent contact through visits and phone calls with the high-risk group. Phone numbers and addresses are registered.
Each week the women get SMS messages about reproductive health, HIV/AIDS prevention, correct use of condoms, sexual assertiveness, problem solving and self-management.
Every two weeks, the team visits various venues and distributes free condoms and gives free check-ups and advice. They test for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C and other infections.
Those who test positive are sent to the Hangzhou No. 3 People's Hospital for treatment.
In February 2008, the team launched a second round of blood collections, taking 220 samples. No HIV cases were found.
"The infection rate was lower than in other cities in the country," Chen says, "but we also found some cases of syphilis, alerting us to pay close attention to prevention of venereal diseases."
In 2008 the team provided health and sex education two or three times a week, and in 2009 they reduced it to once a week.
In the first summer, the team was turned away by more than 20 venues in one afternoon.
"We were called silly asses or mistaken for hospital scalpers trying to sell expensive but fake medicine after the free health check," Dr Hu says.
Nightclub guards could be rough. A female researcher had to be teamed with a man for her safety and one woman was beaten up, says Dr Hu.
Intervention is also difficult because quite a few women worried they would be reported to the police.
"In addition, people in this industry move around a lot and the fragile contact we had just established could be easily broken," says Hu.
Before the project began, all members of the intervention team were trained systematically in how to deal with vulnerable, high-risk women who could be fearful or hostile.
They learned how to put them at ease, how to shake hands, how to talk with them and establish that they were non-threatening.
"The core is to let them know we will do them no harm and that we respect them and want to help them," says director Hu.
It took around a year to establish a relationship with a number of women that changed from hostile to more trusting and amiable. Local residential committees and family planning workers have joined in the effort.
"More and more women are beginning to come to us for help," says Dr Yao Ying.
Last month a young woman from Hunan Province contacted her, asking for a physical check. She has been working in a nightclub for five years.
"She told me she and her boyfriend never went to hospital when they were infected with venereal disease," Dr Yao says. They bought medicine at pharmacies and dosed themselves.
"After our encouragement, she had a complete exam."
Now the couple plans to return to their hometown to open a flower shop, says the doctor.
Dr Yao leads the team in Shangcheng District's Xiaoying and Wangjing areas. So far she has a contact list of around 370 high-risk people.
Each week, Yao visits the massage parlors, night clubs and pubs one by one, chatting with the young women, doing physical exams and talking about HIV/AIDS prevention and reproductive health.
After almost three years of intervention, the latest report shows that the rate of condom use in district venues surveyed has increased from 70 percent to 80 percent.
Around 76 percent now go to hospital to treat venereal disease and other ailments instead of buying OTC medicines and treating themselves.
The team next plans to do an intervention among male workers in entertainment venues.
"From the research we have done, the infection rate among male workers in Hangzhou is much higher than females," says Chen, deputy director at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2009 the team identified 19 gay couples infected with HIV.
"The situation seems worse," says Chen. "It might even be harder."
These women working in nightspots in Hangzhou's Shangcheng District are taking part in HIV/AIDS Intervention, a successful project launched three years ago by Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
They are at high-risk for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) from their work in the district's hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, sauna centers, dance halls, pubs, beauty salons, foot massage parlors and many other entertainment venues.
"We have to go with their time schedule," says Dr Yao, a researcher at the center. "They are busy at night and during the daytime, most of them are sleeping."
It can be difficult to gain access and win the trust of the young women, who are often wary. Many times the team was turned away from an establishment, sometimes by guards and bouncers. Sometimes they were told to return the next day, only to find the place closed.
So far, around 2,000 young women have taken part in the program.
"Now everything is running on the right track, but it was really difficult at the beginning," says Dr Hu Jingfeng, chief of the Prevention Department of the Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The team, made up of 40 medical experts and social workers, distributes condoms and offers free physical checks and consultations on reproductive health. It's strictly voluntary.
In its first five months, the team took 267 blood samples from 257 women aged from 16 to 51. Some cases of venereal disease turned up, but no HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
The district has around 350 entertainment venues.
"Shangcheng District is one of the most developed districts and the entertainment industry has been booming for many years," says Chen Shuchang, deputy director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
After collecting blood, the team stays in frequent contact through visits and phone calls with the high-risk group. Phone numbers and addresses are registered.
Each week the women get SMS messages about reproductive health, HIV/AIDS prevention, correct use of condoms, sexual assertiveness, problem solving and self-management.
Every two weeks, the team visits various venues and distributes free condoms and gives free check-ups and advice. They test for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C and other infections.
Those who test positive are sent to the Hangzhou No. 3 People's Hospital for treatment.
In February 2008, the team launched a second round of blood collections, taking 220 samples. No HIV cases were found.
"The infection rate was lower than in other cities in the country," Chen says, "but we also found some cases of syphilis, alerting us to pay close attention to prevention of venereal diseases."
In 2008 the team provided health and sex education two or three times a week, and in 2009 they reduced it to once a week.
In the first summer, the team was turned away by more than 20 venues in one afternoon.
"We were called silly asses or mistaken for hospital scalpers trying to sell expensive but fake medicine after the free health check," Dr Hu says.
Nightclub guards could be rough. A female researcher had to be teamed with a man for her safety and one woman was beaten up, says Dr Hu.
Intervention is also difficult because quite a few women worried they would be reported to the police.
"In addition, people in this industry move around a lot and the fragile contact we had just established could be easily broken," says Hu.
Before the project began, all members of the intervention team were trained systematically in how to deal with vulnerable, high-risk women who could be fearful or hostile.
They learned how to put them at ease, how to shake hands, how to talk with them and establish that they were non-threatening.
"The core is to let them know we will do them no harm and that we respect them and want to help them," says director Hu.
It took around a year to establish a relationship with a number of women that changed from hostile to more trusting and amiable. Local residential committees and family planning workers have joined in the effort.
"More and more women are beginning to come to us for help," says Dr Yao Ying.
Last month a young woman from Hunan Province contacted her, asking for a physical check. She has been working in a nightclub for five years.
"She told me she and her boyfriend never went to hospital when they were infected with venereal disease," Dr Yao says. They bought medicine at pharmacies and dosed themselves.
"After our encouragement, she had a complete exam."
Now the couple plans to return to their hometown to open a flower shop, says the doctor.
Dr Yao leads the team in Shangcheng District's Xiaoying and Wangjing areas. So far she has a contact list of around 370 high-risk people.
Each week, Yao visits the massage parlors, night clubs and pubs one by one, chatting with the young women, doing physical exams and talking about HIV/AIDS prevention and reproductive health.
After almost three years of intervention, the latest report shows that the rate of condom use in district venues surveyed has increased from 70 percent to 80 percent.
Around 76 percent now go to hospital to treat venereal disease and other ailments instead of buying OTC medicines and treating themselves.
The team next plans to do an intervention among male workers in entertainment venues.
"From the research we have done, the infection rate among male workers in Hangzhou is much higher than females," says Chen, deputy director at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2009 the team identified 19 gay couples infected with HIV.
"The situation seems worse," says Chen. "It might even be harder."
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