Amsterdam 2015
Menu
AIDSImpact.com
Conference Details
Authors
International Committee
Plenary Speakers
Presenting Speakers
Programme
Sessions
Scientific Committee
Acknowledgements
| Abstract #2326 - Poster 2 | ||||
|
Session: 59.9: Poster 2 (Poster) on Tuesday in Chaired by Authors: Presenting Author: Dr. Don Des Jarlais - Mount Sinai Beth Israel, United States |
||||
| Additional Authors: | ||||
| Aim: The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Vietnam is highly concentrated among people who inject drugs (PWIDs), men who have sex with men (MSM), and female sex workers (FSW). Hai Phong is the fourth largest city in Viet Nam and the biggest port and industrial city in the North of Vietnam. Due to its strategic location, Hai Phong is one of the biggest gateways of drug distribution in Vietnam and the center of the HIV epidemic in the North. Most research concerning PWIDs in Vietnam has focused on providing substance use treatment, few projects have studied how to approach this population in the community, especially the groups considered more-difficult-to-approach, such as injecting MSM, FSW, and new injectors. In this context, we implemented qualitative research linked to a Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) epidemiological study within a larger multi-national project named DRIVE-IN. The main objectives of the qualitative research were to understand how to improve the recruitment of PWIDs in research and to understand their motivations for participating in the study. | ||||
| Method / Issue: A qualitative method including ethnographic observations and face-to-face semi-structured interviews was used. 30 participants were recruited from the RDS sample of 600 PWIDs. All interviews took place at the office of Friendship Arms, a community group, which is also the place where participants participate in the RDS study and where they receive HIV and HCV test results. Selection of participants was based on the having diversity among these participants (including new (8) and long-term injectors (8), MSM (7) and FSW (7) who inject) and socio-demographic characteristics of participants (sex, age, educational level). | ||||
| Results / Comments: Among 30 respondents, 22 were male and 8 female. Duration of drug use varied from 1 to 18 years. All respondents currently used heroin only, due to the too high cost of other illicit drugs. Almost all the respondents said that this was the first time they had an opportunity to share about themselves, their family, their drug use, their injecting and sexual practices, and about their lives in general. Respondents also reported that they obtained other benefits of participating in the research such as improving their access to methadone and to HIV treatment, acquiring knowledge about infectious disease transmission, and the modest honoraria for participating (150,000 Vietnamese dong, approximately $7.50). | ||||
| Discussion: Our ethnographic/qualitative research helped us to identify the better conditions to approach the target groups and to involve them in the research process. The community-based approach has proved its effectiveness in our research in Vietnam. The effectiveness of using a community-based approach is also linked to the fact that social relationships of PWIDs are limited to other injectors, due to the discrimination of drug use. It is a positive aspect of the study that it provided an opportunity for PWID to discuss and reflect upon their life situations, increasing their motivation to seek treatment for substance use and for HIV infection. It is of concern, however, that they do not seem to have many opportunities for such discussion and reflection outside of the study. | ||||
| Go Back | ||||