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ormer drug users in Bali are in dire need of government support to be able to work and make a living independently.

Agus, not his real name, a former intravenous drug user who is also HIV positive, makes a living near his home by selling gasoline that has been poured into bottles. For the father of two, the money from selling gasoline serves as his main income, while his wife does odd jobs such as washing and ironing the neighbors’ clothing. “I’m already happy seeing him get out of bed every morning for his work,” said Agus’ wife.

“It’s difficult to find other work because of my past,” admitted Agus, expressing his hope that former drug users like him could receive better attention and support from the government.

According to the Dua Hati Foundation, the only organization supported by Australian government funding that tries to reach out to intravenous drug users in Bali, there are currently around 800 intravenous drug users scattered across the island, mostly in Denpasar and the regencies of Tabanan, Badung and Gianyar.

Another ex-drug user, Asep and his wife, earn money from sewing bedcovers and sheets, as well as accessories for Muslim clothing. He was fortunate to have been granted a pair of sewing machines by the government.

“This grant is a great responsibility for us. There are plenty of ex-drug users out there that cannot work like we do,” said Asep, at his home and sewing workshop. Asep, who also volunteers as a field worker for AIDS patients in Denpasar, acknowledged how tough it was to find work in the formal sector for former drug users who are also HIV positive.

Those who are HIV positive have to be able to control their mood swings and the other side effects of consuming the antiretroviral drugs. Thus, Asep, acknowledged, becoming an entrepreneur served as the best solution for former drug users to make their living, like his sewing business, and others who have opened a workshop or sell cell phone vouchers.

Program coordinator of the Dua Hati Foundation, Edy Suryawan, said that social assistance from the government for former drug users was very limited. “Only five people can be assisted each year,” said Edy, stating that those who received assistance from the government had usually fulfilled a number of requirements, including having already run their own business for at least the past two years.

He said the empowerment of former intravenous drug users needed to be improved following the success of preventing HIV transmission through the harm reduction programs. According to Dua Hati Foundation, the number of intravenous drug users had decreased.

“Almost 90 percent of the 760 drug users we reached out to last year have stopped sharing needles,” Lodovickus Gerong, also known as Vicky, program manager of Dua Hati Foundation, said, while explaining that nowadays more drug users in Bali were better informed about the transmission of HIV/AIDS, thus they voluntarily stopped sharing needles and voluntarily took HIV tests.

The biggest challenges remain in the care, support, and treatment programs.

Of the approximately 520 patients at the methadone therapy clinic at Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar, 94 percent have Hepatitis C. Around 54 percent, or 134 patients, are HIV positive out of the 218 patients who were tested for HIV. A small numbers of them have also contracted Hepatitis B.