KUCHING: A programme to assist HIV/AIDS patients here has come a long away since its inception five years ago.
A total of 173 patients are now registered under the “Teratak Kasih Tok Nan” programme, said its patron Datuk Amar Jamillah Anum here today.
The programme conceived under the auspices of the late Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Adenan Satem seeks to help those afflicted with HIV/AIDS in terms of health treatment, medication, counselling and so forth.
Jamilah, who is the widow of Satem, said with the cooperation of the Ministry of Health, the patients’ conditions have seen improvement and all were now attentive to their medication.
She was speaking at a Sunway Group Raya cheer event held at the one stop center for patients at Kuarters Padi along Jalan Crookshank here.
“In May, we will be organising some events with the cooperation of the society and the Sunway Group.
“Since 2017, after managing to raise funds and with support from the state government, we have collected a sum of RM700,000 to open a temporary one stop center to help not only patients to receive treatment at the Sarawak General Hospital but also by providing HIV counselling and community HIV test with the cooperation of the Ministry,” Jamilah said.
She also disclosed that in the five years of the programme, the center has also collaborated with the Sunway Group which has assisted the center in Sarawak as well as its Borneo Hope programme in Sabah.
“Our priority is to encourage all HIV patients get their treatment because it is very important for them to be able to live their lives like other normal people, not only to work but also to have a family with HIV negative children and all that. It is all about treatment and prevention.
“We provide them with their psychology health aspects as well and we have a nurse who is trained to counsel and to encourage them to be involved with activities with our clients such as in the cooking events to help them with their income and we also give them monetary assistance,” she said.
“Actually, HIV can be treated but it can never go away just as in diabetic patients, we can treat them, but the disease will not go away,” she said.
