UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS

March 1 2008

Scaling Up Treatment and Care

Today, I want to tell you about the progress we are making to scale up the treatment and care of children living with HIV. Back in 2005, we realized that adults who were getting tested for HIV and needed treatment could receive it but the situation for children was very different. Following the launch of UNICEF's UNITE for Children, UNITE Against AIDS campaign, a first national pediatric conference took place. The main goal was to mobilize the commitment of our partners in all sectors and support the government of Rwanda to carry on a study to determine how many children were HIV-positive and in need of treatment. As a result, a scale up plan was developed and protocols to test children were signed to allow more children to get tested and receive adequate care.

The theme for the 2007 third national pediatric conference was decentralization in the prevention, protection, care, treatment and support of the children infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. The goal was to focus on bringing the needed care and treatment for children at a decentralized level. In other words, to get the community involved in the care of these children. Thanks to these efforts, more children are being identified, tested, counseled and some are receiving antiretroviral treatment in the health facilities.

Earlier this month, I went to Nyange B and met with 10 HIV-positive children who were under twelve years old. There, a mother explained to me how challenging it is for the parents to talk with their children and tell them that they are HIV-positive. Providing the children with adequate psychological support and appropriate food is also a constraint to these parents. During my talk with the children, they explained to me that they were told that they are HIV-positive and I could see how they didn’t grasp what this meant to their lives. It is very painful for the parents, especially the mothers, to find out that they are HIV-positive and then have to talk to the children about it. When I was with the children, I was told that one of them, who I hadn’t met, had just passed away. I could see how shocked the children with me were when they heard the news.

Nyiransabimana is a 32 year-old mother of one of the kids I met and she is HIV- positive. She told me that in the beginning, it was so difficult to talk to her child, a 9 year old boy. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him that he was HIV-positive and she was very scared when she imagined the questions he would ask her. She chose to talk to a counselor before hand and she went through therapy sessions. She got prepared and that’s how later she managed to talk to her kid, Fidele. The boy looks very strong and healthy. The parents knew their serological status when the mother had the baby and a follow up was immediately done for the child. Getting children tested and providing them with the treatment they require can mean an accompaniment for life. According to UNICEF Rwanda, Fidele is only one of 20,763 children in the country living with HIV (December 2007). Among them, more than 4,000 received treatment by December 2007 out of a total of 6,489 in need of treatment. There is a lot to do to save the lives of these children.