The people portrayed by Steve Mc Curry live in rural Thai Nguyen and Phu Tho provinces. Although the percentage of Vietnam's population infected with HIV is relatively low, the number of people infected has more than doubled in the past six years. Most people living with HIV were infected through sharing needles for drug use, which is more common than in most other countries. With HIV easily spread into the population via sex between drug users and their partners, AIDS is a problem the Vietnamese government takes seriously.

Nguyen Van Luoc, 42, was a farmer and metal shop worker who contracted HIV by sharing a needle with his AIDS-infected brother. Married with a son and daughter, Luoc suffered from advanced tuberculosis when he began treatment. "I'm not afraid of death. At the beginning, I was upset and disappointed and lost hope. After knowing there is treatment to maintain your status, I feel more at peace, not scared." However, Luoc died from TB a month after Steve McCurry left. Before he died, he told his wife, Luan, "If I die, it's because of the lung disease and not because of HIV. The other patients should take their treatment to live longer."

Nguyen Quoc Khanh, 44, husband of Tiep and father of Thanh, 16, and Binh, 13, began using opium when working in a gold mine. When opium sellers switched to heroin, Khanh began using heroin, then succumbed to shared needle use. He first fell ill in 2002, and developed tuberculosis in 2007. When he started antiretroviral treatment, he was so weak he spent most of his time in bed. Only a few months after he began taking his ARVs, he had found work. Tiep feels that treatment has brought dignity back to the family. "When you're between death and life and you come back … your health becomes most precious," Khanh says.