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(“But I continued using at that time….got….got….got support fromthere….but they were…..worried because I was still using….and finallythey sent me into rehab at PENGASIH. And….at PENGASIH…there Istarted….to learn…..I got my life back…from the emotional support Igot….with the support group”)(Male, 32yrs, Upper secondary education, DU)A few specifically drew attention to the benefits of having service providers who werealso HIV-positive:“…..as a HIV volunteer, they will help you according to your situation andyour needs – living….aaah…..medication…aaah….. or look at the thingsthat you really need. If they are capable and do connect to this kind ofpeople….they will help us as [much as] they could.”(Male, 42yrs, Primary education, Heterosexual)“Because when you first find out…..when you [are] first diagnosed withHIV and AIDS, of course, there is gonna to be denial. There’s gonna bedenial….there’s gonna be isolation…..there’s gonna be blame. There’sgonna be all these things, you know. And how is this person gonnaovercome all these - everything at once?! So….the….the first thing aperson [who] is diagnosed with HIV and AIDS should…..should come toterms with is….to live with HIV AIDS. It is not that…..it’s about living –what you gonna do, there is medication and then all this kind ofinformation and the best will come from a peer who already has a supportgroup [like the one] I’m in.”(Male, 50yrs, Upper secondary education, DU)It was clear that an important source of support for their healthcare is friendship, more soin the absence of family relations. In the same way as support groups, friends provideunderstanding and accepting relationships. The importance of friends applies inparticular to marginalised groups, such as, SWs, DUs and TG communities who mayhave been abandoned by or have lost contact with their families for one or other reason.Most likely, family estrangement stem from behaviours deemed unacceptable by familymembers, often preceding HIV infection. At the same time, it may also be the case that adrug user, or sex worker or transgender him/herself decides to distance themselves or cutoff family ties on the perception that he/she is not accepted. In responding to themoderator’s query on how she managed to recover after a year of illness and hospitaltreatment, one participant ascribed her survival to the support of her friends:“Sebab…..sebab saya ada kawan kawan datang melawat. Kalau tak adakawan kawan, doctor, saya dah macam tak ada keyakinan.”(“Because…..because I had friends visiting me. If I did not have friends,doctor, I would have lost faith.”)(Transgender, 32yrs, Lower secondary education, Infected Partner)48