After the lockdown of Wuhan, we delivered medicine to 441 people living with HIV

Before the outbreak of the new coronavirus, we did not feel it. The news released by the government at that time was "preventable and controllable," and it was not known that it would spread from person to person. At that time, our colleagues were still working in Wuhan. We had winter vacation on January 20, and there were more media reports about the epidemic during that time.

But even then, we hadn't expected the situation to be serious enough to close the city. Until I got up on the morning of the 23rd, I was surprised when I saw the message on my mobile phone that the city would be closed at 10 o'clock. At that time, I first thought that many people would encounter difficulties, but I didn't immediately think that our infected friends might encounter some problems.

▌In order to get medicine from the village, he dialed 110 to find the police

. Because the city was closed, many infected people would not have enough medicine. Some did not receive enough medicine, and some might not have so much medicine with him because of returning to his hometown. After the road was sealed, he couldn't get it. On the day of the lockdown of , we received dozens of such requests at once. We realized that the problem was already serious at the time, and more and more infected people came to consult. The problem of

is particularly complicated. For example, some infected friends need cars, and some need medication assistance, including whether we need to help the designated hospitals in Wuhan (that is, the Jinyintan Hospital that focuses on treating patients with the new crown virus) mailing medications, etc. .

We have built a caring team group, a drug support group, a reserve volunteer group, and some recruitments. Many friends and charity organizations contacted us. is like a caravan of caring teams. They are all local friends in Wuhan. They help pick up the infected people, or send our volunteers to far away places to deliver medicines to the infected people. Without them, many infected people cannot get these drugs in time. At the beginning of

, we only had one or two colleagues dealing with these inquiries, but the amount of inquiries has grown rapidly. In order to better protect the privacy of the infected, and to serve them more efficiently one-on-one, six of our seven colleagues in our organization later went into battle, plus one of our very core volunteers, seven people Specifically for everyone.

The first case I took was my friend. He lived in Guangzhou, and returned to his hometown in Hubei during the Chinese New Year. As a result, the village was closed with stones or various things. After received his case, I was very anxious and immediately asked him to contact the local CDC in Guangzhou. We just contacted the local CDC to get the medicine, and asked volunteers from the local charity organization to help send it.

▲ When delivering medicine to an infected person, I encountered a blocked road. © Wuhan Gay Center

But even if the medicine is delivered, people who are trapped in the village cannot come out to get the medicine. is sometimes forced to call 110 to ask the police to help out of the village, go through the town, go to the county, and go to the CDC to get it.

also encountered other problems. For example, in another case, the CDC where he had received the medicine before and the local CDC where he was trapped could not get through, because in some places CDC staff might It has already been on holiday, and CDCs in some places are required to prevent and treat the new crown virus, and there are not enough staff to deal with this matter.

In this case, we will also find ways through the drug support group, such as whether there is an infected person nearby that can lend him medicine, or see if he can go to other disease control centers or designated hospitals to ask if there is any medicine, etc.

▌The despair of infected people makes me feel very desperate.

We have come into contact with many infected people. Some infected people are more optimistic and have stronger mobility. But there are also some infected people who have a particularly strong fear of not receiving medicines. Some will directly express that they are too anxious, saying that there are only two days and three days left for his medicine, and he really has no choice. They will be very anxious if they ask us if there is any way to get medicine. To ask for help. There is a case of

I am particularly impressed. The client had only the last night's medicine, but he went to consult the CDC, and the CDC could not administer the medicine until the seventh day of the first month. There was a gap of three or four days. At first he couldn’t figure it out. He was a little discouraged.I have been taking medicine for ten years, and it doesn't matter if I take it for three days.

We are also very sad to hear him say this. At , we really tried our best, and sometimes we are a little weak. Because all our staff are also trapped in the local area, there is no way to leave to help him practically.

▲ Part of the antiviral drugs obtained by Wuhan Gay Center for the infected. © Wuhan Gay Center

In the end, the infected person was quite effective. He ran to the CDC by himself and told the staff in charge that he would call the police if you didn't give it to me. It may also be because of this reason that the processing speed was accelerated over there, allowing him to successfully obtain the medicine before the drug was stopped.

The second day after the city was closed, I was very busy. On the third day, I also began to help with some cases, including helping to organize articles and doing some communication work. From waking up in the morning, I started to deal with these things until I went to bed at night. Apart from going to the toilet and eating, I have been paying attention to these messages at other times.

When I go to bed at night, I feel very stressed. Because some of 's friends who are infected have no way to get the medicine, the problem has not been solved, and it can only be solved by contacting the disease control or designated hospital the next day, and he still doesn't know what will happen. The feeling of despair of the infected person makes me feel desperate.

got up one morning, the weather was very gloomy, there was still rain outside, and there were very few people. An infected person sent me a message at that time, saying that the disease control may not be able to contact him. He still has three days of medicine. What should I do? I felt very lost at the time. It has been a long time since I was so disappointed in receiving cases or serving infected people.

▌The road is closed, what should I do for people with chronic diseases and acute infections?

On January 26, the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention introduced a nationwide drug collection program to ensure that HIV-infected persons stranded in different places receive drugs. But before that, we contacted the provincial disease control, and the provincial disease control issued a policy. Because of the closure of Hubei, the infected people can find the local disease control or designated hospitals to get medicines from different places.

▲ On January 26, China's Disease Control and Prevention issued a notice on guaranteeing free antiviral drugs for HIV-infected persons stranded in other places. © Wuhan Gay Center

For example, we have a case where we used to get medicine in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, but now we are staying in Wuhan. We asked him to find the Guangzhou CDC, ask them to fill in the supporting documents and submit it to the Wuhan CDC or designated hospitals, and then the infected person can get medicine for a period of time in Wuhan. After this provision was made, we then wrote the detailed application template, the way of taking medicine, etc. in the official account, sent it to the public account, and sent it to the communities of each infected person.

After several days of work, the number of cases we received has gradually decreased. The problems of many infected people who have asked for help are already being solved or solved, so I also feel relaxed a lot.

The biggest impact of this new type of pneumonia on me is that I spent the Spring Festival alone. Although I originally planned not to go back to my hometown, my friends in Wuhan can't come in or meet up. Even if the holiday I imagine is sealed at home, I might be able to take a break from watching the show. But in fact, our staff have been helping everyone with a high-pressure nerve these days.

Until yesterday, I took the time to chat with my mother for a long time. I greeted me during the Chinese New Year before, but I didn’t have time to contact me. It's the same with me. Sometimes I video with him while processing work, but we may not talk because I don't have time to talk to him. But fortunately, my parents and my partner understand and support me.

Our colleagues also shared our emotions, so some of our sadness and disappointment slowly passed away. The job of our organization itself is to provide some services and support for the infected. If we don't help them, it will be too difficult for them.

After experiencing this incident, I can truly understand that in our environment, because of some big things or the interests of more people, we may sometimes ignore the voices of the more disadvantaged and minority people. . For example,

closed the road, but have we thought of many friends with chronic diseases and friends with acute infections? What should they do? It feels that these are ignored in emergency situations. Still hope to make any decisionBefore, we must consider some places that we may not see.