Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Cresent Societies - 9 April 2003
France Hurtubise, in Beijing
En Yun is one of dozens of drug users who are benefiting from a Red Cross programme in Kunming, in Yunnan province, called "Sunshine Homeland". The programme is primarily focused on the reduction of transmission of HIV among injecting drug users, and the promotion of safe behaviour such as not sharing needles or syringes. However, it also provides counselling and care for those who wish to end their addiction. Participants can also be taught how to develop life-sustaining skills, such as first-aid training, the use of computers, or, simply, cooking.
An estimated one million people are now believed to be living with HIV/AIDS in China. It's a sharp increase over previous estimates and with infection rates rising by 17 per cent in the first six months of 2002 alone, the spectre of a widespread epidemic is looming in the world's most populous country unless there is an effective response.
And in a country with increasingly widening socio-economic disparities, HIV epidemics are occurring among certain population groups - including IDUs. It's a serious issue in nine provinces and in Beijing, with the most recent reported outbreaks of HIV among IDUs in China's Hunan and Guizhou provinces.
The Red Cross Society of China has been involved for several years in prevention of AIDS among youth. It was the first national institution to speak openly about the risk of spreading HIV. Its education programmes were initiated in 1994 in Yunnan, the province with the highest number of drug-related HIV cases with the support of the Australian Red Cross.
Initiated in October 2002, Sunshine Homeland uses peer education as its main thrust. So far, 14 former drug users like Liu En Yun have been trained as peer educators. They in turn have conducted more than 30 two-day workshops in drug treatment centres and in their communities where tradition and silence had condemned their peers to isolation and ignorance.
In China, discrimination against and silence about drug users and people living with HIV/AIDS are major hurdles against effective humanitarian action. It was only a year ago that AIDS as an issue came out into the open and knowledge about its effects and modes of transmission is badly lacking.
Guo Yi, a participant in the Sunshine Homeland programme confided : "After I learned AIDS could not be healed, I wished to share my knowledge."
He is not alone in his former ignorance about HIV. A survey showed that 81 per cent of drug users in Yunnan did not know that the virus could be transmitted by sharing needles.
Those who have benefited from Sunshine Homeland come from many different backgrounds, though they shared the same struggle with addiction and stigma. Now, they have one more thing in common, the most precious gift they unanimously say the programme has given them.
"I got what I wanted from Sunshine Homeland, which was trust and respect, no discrimination at all," says another participant, Tang Wen Jun.
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