Philip Ngunjiri
22 June 2008
Nairobi — A US BASED FOUNDATION - in collaboration with Uganda's Ministry of Health and the United States Agency for International Development (USAid) - has launched guidelines on how to start and implement children's HIV/Aids support groups.
According to the Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric Aids Foundation, the guidelines will help communities throughout Uganda, and ultimately the region to set up their own Ariel Children's Clubs.
Ariel Children's Clubs feature a monthly get-together of children who are infected or affected by HIV/Aids. The focus of the clubs is to enable children to interact and learn in a friendly, conducive environment. The clubs are named after Elizabeth Glaser's daughter, Ariel, who left a legacy of hope after succumbing to Aids in 1988.
The clubs grew out of the family support groups at several prevention of mother-to-child transmission sites supported by Uganda's Ministry of Health and the foundation. Recognising that the support group meetings brought hope to affected families, the foundation and other key stakeholders launched a family-centred initiative to provide critical HIV/Aids services.
THE EFFORT ALLOWED CHILdren to be clinically assessed while their parents were encouraged and given the opportunity to test all members of their families for HIV status.
The Ariel Childen's Club evolved from this initiative as a way of addressing the psycho-social support needs of HIV-positive children.
"We believe that these guidelines are the key that can unlock many doors in the minds of the thousands of HIV-positive children in Uganda and beyond who have to battle so many issues," said William Salmond, the foundation's country director in Uganda.
These guidelines, he added, have been developed to improve the well being of the children and their family members and have been made with one primary objective - to enable children to achieve and live quality lives.
The Ariel Children's Club guidelines were designed for use by staff at district and rural facilities and provide a step-by-step approach to createing and implementing support groups for HIV-infected children.
"The Ugandan government is committed to reducing the number of children living with HIV in this country, and in providing the best care and support to those who are living positively," said Elizabeth Madraa, head of Uganda's Aids Control Council. "This document is user-friendly and we at the ministry feel that it is an important tool that will provide a standardised response to such a fundamental issue."
The number of children newly infected with HIV globally continues to grow each year, with more than 420,000 new infections in 2007. In Uganda, an estimated 110,000 children are living with HIV, 20,000 of whom are infected yearly through mother-to-child transmission. Currently, only 10,000 children in the country have access to life-saving drugs, and more than one million who are orphaned by Aids lack support.
"With the launch of these guidelines, we believe we will be able to reach even more families and children, giving them the care and support that they deserve," said Salmond.
Since 2000, the foundation has worked with Uganda's Ministry of Health to expand access to essential HIV/Aids prevention, care, and treatment services. The foundation currently supports care and treatment in more than 50 sites around the country.
MEANWHILE, ACCORDing to a report issued last week by the World Health Organisation, UNAids and Unicef, last year witnessed improved access to drugs to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission, expanded testing and counselling and greater commitment to male circumcision in some of the heavily affected regions of sub-Saharan Africa.
The report, "Towards Universal Access: Scaling Up Priority HIV/Aids Interventions in the Health Sector," also shows that some three million people now have access to antiretroviral therapy. In addition, it notes, one million people started on treatment last year alone, which represents an increase of around 42 per cent from in 2006.
The rapid scale-up of treatment has been attributed to a number of factors, including increased availability of drugs, in large part because of price reductions; improved delivery systems and increased demand as the number of people who are tested and diagnosed with HIV rises.
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