New
Infections of HIV can be mother to child, but many are
in relationships so youth need awareness
Hope
Clinic Lukuli has provided HIV counselling and testing
since 2004 and in 2006 was accredited by the Ministry
of Health as an Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) site. Beginning
in 2004 we also offered advice and the necessary drugs
to Prevent Mother To Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV.
The process is based on doses of ART drugs that greatly
subdue the viral load in the mother and act as a post-exposure
prophylaxis for the newborn. Although PMTCT
as a procedure was first proved in Uganda it was not
until recently that treatment as a prevention method was
really proven for the wider population.
But,
for newborns and children, our tasks are (1) preventing
vertical transmission from the mother, (2) identifying
HIV in untested parents and/or the child, and (3) preparing
the older children with lifeskills to protect themselves
from older people and their age-peers as they become sexually
active. We work closely with Straight Talk Foundation
and their Young Talk newspaper to have age appropriate
discussions.
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Fun for out of school kids - and
lifeskills |
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She came for art and left with
information |
Our
work with pregnant women (and also to inform women of
their choices of when to become pregnant) helps reduce
the number of babies born to HIV positive mothers without
medical support. PMTCT is a simple regimen of drugs which
is most effective when the newborn's dose is administered
by a health professional at birth. We seek support now
to mobilise the women in the community to come for HIV
testing when they know they are pregnant. Our
PMTCT request to the Global Fund Round 10 was accepted
by Uganda's
CCM and we await those funds in 2012.
The
pre-teens are best reached through our work with Stay
Alive (funded by Until There's a Cure) and with Right
to Play. Stay Alive was developed
in East Africa and brings together children, their
parents and their teachers to provide lifeskills information.
Starting with 9 year olds, there are four age bands of
the materials with age-appropriate topics. Working
with Reach the Children we worked with over 2,000
children over a whole academic term. For older kids and
youth we distribute the newspapers, offer STI/STD tests
and treatment and have trained counsellors able to work
in a range of puberty, peer pressure and relationship
topics as well as HIV or sexual health.
