Wang Tao inspects a dormitory at the Nanfeng Compulsory Detoxification Center for people living with HIV in Foshan, Guangdong Province. Photo: CFP

Wang waits as an inmate is given an electrocardiogram by a police doctor at the center. Photo: CFP

Wang patrols the center at night. Photo: CFP

Wang and his colleagues practice putting on protective clothing in case of emergencies. Photo: CFP

Wang reads the notebook in which he has written down the condition of all the inmates. Photo: CFP

 

Wang Tao is a police officer at a compulsory isolation center which houses more than 400 HIV-positive people that are trying to beat their addiction to drugs in Foshan, South China's Guangdong Province.

Since applying to work at the center nine years ago, he has learned how to deal with emergencies, reduce the risk of HIV exposure and help the inmates end their dependency on drugs.

He has a notebook in which he has recorded the condition of all the patients, such as which people use which synthetic drugs, which inmates also have other diseases and which have been abandoned by their families.

"Thus, I can communicate with them in a better way and be more effective," Wang told Nanfang Daily. He can't remember how many notebooks he has filled up with these details in past years.

The Nanfeng Compulsory Detoxification Center started to manage HIV-positive drug users in 2006 and in 2009 it begun receiving drug addicts that were living with HIV from across the whole province. At its peak, it housed 800 inmates.

The police officers who work in the center are paid 500 yuan ($80) more than their counterparts at other centers every month. Despite the extra cash, the risk of exposure to HIV has deterred many police officers from applying to work at such centers.

In May 2010, two inmates had a violent dispute. Wang immediately got involved and managed to seize a sharp implement from one inmate. When order was restored, he found there was a cut on his arm. Luckily, after six months of screening, doctors told him that he hadn't been infected.

Xie Guosheng, another policeman in the Nanfeng center, said his wife has asked him to transfer to another position, she is fearful for his safety. "This has happened to almost all my colleagues," Xie was quoted as saying by the New Express, a Guangzhou-based newspaper.

"Once we started to work here, many friends even begun to distance themselves from us and wouldn't like to have dinner with us," he noted.

Fu Jian, deputy head of the center, said his biggest worry is always the new police officers. But his job is made easier by having veterans like Wang and Xie around. During every task that fresh police officers are asked to do, they will be accompanied by a more experienced officer.

At the center, boldness alone cannot solve problems. Sincere education and communication with the inmates is key, Fu said.

Official figures show that the Nanfeng center is one of 66 compulsory detoxification centers for HIV-positive drug users in Chinese mainland. Currently, nearly 9,000 people are treated in these centers.