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Wife's tale: My husband is HIV+
By Yi Ling and Chen Siwu |
December 3, 2009, Thursday
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Print Edition
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GAO Xianmei does not remember the date when she was diagnosed HIV positive. There are more important things to remember ever since the dark day. The first - never let other people know.
"If others know I am a HIV carrier, my whole family will be humiliated," says the 35-year-old woman peasant in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Unsafe sex and needle sharing among intravenous drug addicts are main causes of new infections in Hezhou, a city with 2.1 million residents, where Gao lives.
Gao was infected with HIV by her husband. When they married in 2003, Gao, who was handicapped by a childhood condition, thought they would live happily ever after.
But, on their wedding day, she learned that her husband was an intravenous drug addict. "My older brother told me the truth. He heard about it from fellow villagers," recalls Gao.
"My husband's family kept it a secret very well from my family."
Her husband later told her he started using drugs when working in Guangdong Province in the late 1990s. Gao did not expect anything worse would come along though.
In April 2008, Gao's husband was diagnosed HIV positive. Her husband admitted his illness, crying and begging for her forgiveness. She remained cool, refusing to reject him for his bad habits. However, she was in despair when she doctors later told her that she was also HIV positive.
Her fragile faith in living on was preserved only after doctors said her daughters were not infected.
But how to live on was a big problem for her. Although the government covers more than 70 percent of the cost for the couple's regular treatment, her family was heavily in debt because her husband was too weak to work.
"Although I do not need to take the drugs for AIDS patients, I have to take medicines to keep my immune system functional," says Gao.
To help women with HIV like Gao, the Hezhou government has been working with UNICEF China since 2007, providing psychological and financial support to these women.
The Red Lotus Group was established to provide loans and medical counseling to the HIV/AIDS-affected families.
The Red Lotus now has more than 500 members. Gao Xianmei joined last year and received a one-year interest-aefree loan of 3,000 yuan (US$441) in January this year.
"I used the money to raise pigs, and grow yams and vegetables," she says. Hopefully, my family income would be doubled this year. Then I can borrow more money to raise more pigs."
(The authors are Xinhua writers.)
"If others know I am a HIV carrier, my whole family will be humiliated," says the 35-year-old woman peasant in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Unsafe sex and needle sharing among intravenous drug addicts are main causes of new infections in Hezhou, a city with 2.1 million residents, where Gao lives.
Gao was infected with HIV by her husband. When they married in 2003, Gao, who was handicapped by a childhood condition, thought they would live happily ever after.
But, on their wedding day, she learned that her husband was an intravenous drug addict. "My older brother told me the truth. He heard about it from fellow villagers," recalls Gao.
"My husband's family kept it a secret very well from my family."
Her husband later told her he started using drugs when working in Guangdong Province in the late 1990s. Gao did not expect anything worse would come along though.
In April 2008, Gao's husband was diagnosed HIV positive. Her husband admitted his illness, crying and begging for her forgiveness. She remained cool, refusing to reject him for his bad habits. However, she was in despair when she doctors later told her that she was also HIV positive.
Her fragile faith in living on was preserved only after doctors said her daughters were not infected.
But how to live on was a big problem for her. Although the government covers more than 70 percent of the cost for the couple's regular treatment, her family was heavily in debt because her husband was too weak to work.
"Although I do not need to take the drugs for AIDS patients, I have to take medicines to keep my immune system functional," says Gao.
To help women with HIV like Gao, the Hezhou government has been working with UNICEF China since 2007, providing psychological and financial support to these women.
The Red Lotus Group was established to provide loans and medical counseling to the HIV/AIDS-affected families.
The Red Lotus now has more than 500 members. Gao Xianmei joined last year and received a one-year interest-aefree loan of 3,000 yuan (US$441) in January this year.
"I used the money to raise pigs, and grow yams and vegetables," she says. Hopefully, my family income would be doubled this year. Then I can borrow more money to raise more pigs."
(The authors are Xinhua writers.)
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