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Vietnamese families living with HIV

In the early 2000s, Vietnam was in the midst of the most severe phase of the HIV epidemic. Together with colleagues, women and their families, we developed programmes that made life-saving care possible and generated stories that found their way into films, art and publications.

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When I arrived in Vietnam in 2003 as a health adviser for the Medical Committee Netherlands Vietnam, there was little public attention or support, and stigma was extremely high. There were no affordable AIDS medicines: a positive HIV test was almost certainly a death sentence. Pregnant women could sometimes protect their unborn children from infection but had no chance of living to see them grow up. Most women did not even know they were infected or only discovered this a few months before giving birth during routine testing. Without intervention, many children would die or be left orphans.

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Together with my Vietnamese colleagues and partners, we decided to take a different approach. Not only the children, but first and foremost the mothers had to survive. We had little money, but in 2003 we began with four women in a support group, the Sunflowers. From the start, a long-term relationship grew with these women and their families, which allowed their lives and transformations to be followed and made visible over the years.

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With support from the French government for testing and medicines, we mobilised young women, including mothers with small children, to start treatment. This enabled them to raise their children themselves. When the medicines began to work, the women started to inform and mobilise others. Very soon the group expanded: against all stereotypes, poor women proved fully capable of taking their medication daily.

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I drew on my editorial and production experience to ensure this turbulent period was documented by young Vietnamese filmmakers and artists. At the same time, we used academic methods and techniques to explore both practical and theoretical questions and shared the outcomes.​​​​​

Publications:

  • Oosterhoff, P., Lyttleton, C., van der Kwaak, A., and Aggleton, P. (2013) ‘Editorial Introduction’ in Special Issue: Sexual and reproductive health issues among indigenous and minority ethnic peoples in Asia, Africa and Latin America, Culture, Health and Sexuality, Culture, Health & Sexuality, 15:sup3, S335-S337, DOI: 10.1080/13691058.2013.807076

  • White, J. and Oosterhoff, P. (2013) Monstrous Fears: experiences of pregnancy and opiate use in Vietnam, and strategies for support in Journal of Drug Issues, 43: 1, 4 – 19

  • Bach Xuan Tran, Ohinmaa A., Long Thanh Nguyen, Oosterhoff P., Tam Van Vu, Larsson M. (2012) Gender differences in quality of life outcomes of HIV/AIDS treatment in the latent feminization of HIV epidemics in Vietnam. AIDS Care, Vol. 24, Issue 10 (Taylor & Francis.

  • Oosterhoff P., White J. and Aggleton P. (editors) (2011) Special Issue: Sexual and Reproductive Health Issues among Minority Ethnic Groups in South-East Asia and South-West China, Culture, Health and Sexuality. November Issue.

  • White J., Oosterhoff P., and Nguyen Thi Huong (2011) Deconstructing 'Barriers' to Access: Minority Ethnic Women and Medicalised Maternal Health Services in Vietnam. Global Public Health (accepted for print January 2012)

  • Oosterhoff P., White J., and Nguyen Thi Huong, (2011) Engaging HIV positive ethnic minority mothers in Vietnam Exchange – Autumn, Royal Tropical Institute, Netherlands

  • Oosterhoff P. and Tran Xuan Bach (2011) Effects of collective action on the confidence of individual HIV positive mothers in Vietnam. In: Women, Motherhood and Living with HIV/AIDS: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (available in 2013). Editor: Pranee Liamputtong Springer.

  • Oosterhoff P., White J., Nguyen Thi Huong (2011) Family health consequences of modernisation programmes in Black Thai communities.  Culture Health and Sexuality. December Issue

  • Nguyen Thi Huong, Oosterhoff P., White J. (2011) Aspirations and realities of love, marriage and education among Hmong women. Culture, Health and Sexuality. December Issue

  • White, J.; Oosterhoff, P. and Anh Thu Vuong (2010) Opiate Use and Pregnancy in Hanoi: Findings of an Assessment, Medical Committee Netherlands Vietnam (MCNV)

  • Oosterhoff, P. (2009) Observations on action research with HIV-positive women and state service providers in northern Vietnam.  Medische Antropologie 21 (2).

  • Hardon, A., Oosterhoff, P., Nguyen, T., Hidayana, I. and Imelda, D. (2009) Preventing mother to child transmission of HIV in Vietnam and Indonesia: diverging care dynamics and fragmented practices.   Social Science and Medicine, 69 (6): 838-45.

  • Nguyen T.A., Oosterhoff P., Pham N. Y., Wright P, and Hardon A. (2009) Health workers' views on quality of prevention of mother-to-child transmission and postnatal care for HIV-infected women and their children. Human Resources for Health, 7:39 

  • Oosterhoff P., Nguyen T. A., Pham N. Y., Wright P., and Hardon A. (2009) Recreating kinship: coping options of HIV+ AIDS widows in Vietnam.  in: Health Care for Women International.

  • Nguyen T.A., Oosterhoff P., Pham N. Y., Wright P, and Hardon A. (2009) Self-Help Groups Can Improve Utilization of Postnatal Care by HIV-Infected Mothers.  Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, Vol. 20, No. 2, March/April 2009, 141-152.

  • Oosterhoff, P. (2009) UNDP Social and political science specialist on socio-economic impacts of HIV and AIDS, Vietnam: UNDP

  • Oosterhoff P. (2008) “Pressure to Bear” Gender, Fertility and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV in Vietnam, PhD thesis

  • Oosterhoff P., Nguyen T. A., Pham N. Y., Wright P., and Hardon A. (2008) HIV-positive mothers in Viet Nam: using their status to build support groups and access essential services. Reproductive Health Matters, November issue

  • Oosterhoff P., Hardon A., Nguyen T. A., Pham N. Y., and Wright P. (2008) Dealing with a positive result: risks and responses in routine HIV testing among pregnant women in Vietnam. AIDS care, 2008, 20:6, 654-659

  • Oosterhoff P., Nguyen T. A., Ngo T. H., Pham N. Y., Wright P. and Hardon A. (2008) Holding the line: Vietnamese family responses to pregnancy and child desire when a family member has HIV.  In Culture Health and Sexuality, Volume 10, Issue 4, Pages 403 – 416.

  • Nguyen T.A., Oosterhoff P., Hardon A., Nguyen H. T., Coutinho R. A, and Wright P. (2008) Barriers to access prevention of mother-to-child transmission for HIV positive women in a well-resourced setting in Vietnam.  AIDS Research and Therapy, 5:7, doi:10.1186/1742-6405-5-7

  • Oosterhoff P., Nguyen T. A., Pham N. Y., Wright P. and Hardon A. (2008) Can micro-credit empower HIV+ women? An exploratory case study in Northern Vietnam.  Women’s Health and Urban Life, Vol.7, Issue 1.

  • Nguyen T.A., Oosterhoff P., Hardon A., Nguyen H. T., Coutinho R. A. and Wright P. (2008) A hidden HIV epidemic among women in Vietnam. BMC Public Health, January Issue, 8:37  

  • Oosterhoff, P.; Peeters, A.; Honderdos, I.; Pham, N. Y. and Bowen, R. (2007) Psycho-social support for women affected by HIV/AIDS: a handbook for communication skills training, Medical Committee Netherlands Vietnam, Vietnam Women’s Union

  • Pham, T. T. H.; Nguyen, T. A. and Oosterhoff, P. (2007) “Muoi Thuc Don, Danh cho Nguoi Mac Benh Nhiem Trung” (Vietnamese cookbook for families living with HIV), Hanoi Medical Publishing House

  • Oosterhoff, P.; Miller, N. and Tran Viet Anh (2007) Hanoi B93 Clubs Evaluation, Hanoi: Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (DOLISA) and MCNV

  • Oosterhoff, P. and Pham, T.T.H. (2005) Theory made palatable: Cooking lessons for HIV+ women in Vietnam, Nutrition 1: September.

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