EpiC Kyrgyzstan
“It was hard for me in those days, and now there are people nearby who help me start all over again.”
Dmitry is from Bishkek and is 38 years old. Dmitry was a drug user for many years. After the death of his first wife, he raised his daughter alone. Three years ago, Dmitry found out he had HIV. After his diagnosis, Dmitry started taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) to treat his HIV infection, but after a few months he gave up.
Andrey, a peer navigator for the Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) project through RANS Plus, learned about Dmitry’s HIV status and his drug addiction and is now helping him accept HIV treatment and join an opioid substitution therapy program for people who want to get rid of heroin addiction and start living in a new way.
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