Stop the Cycle of HIV: Support Women and Children!

In most cases, HIV infection in infants and children is passed down from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding. In general, physical symptoms of HIV in children include growth failure, various infections of varying severity, wasting, abdominal swelling, skin rashes, and so on.

4-year-old Emmanuel was born HIV positive and contracted the virus from his mother during birth. Emmanuel's father was always in tears, worried about his son’s health and survival. He had a bloated abdomen, which was a sign of severe malnutrition and dehydration. Emmanuel's parents split after he was diagnosed with HIV, and his father was terrified of losing his first child to AIDS.
Emmanuel's father wasted no time in doing everything in his power to save his son's life. He was also urged to get tested for HIV, and fortunately, he tested negative. Emmanuel's father was counselled, and the baby was admitted to the paediatric ward for immediate treatment of his symptoms.
Emmanuel's father was filled with anxiety and questions in his mind: would his son survive? This was his first child. Will he be able to regain his health and play and laugh like any other child? Will he be able to go to school? He was distressed.

Emmanuel was readmitted to the hospital a week later, and despite the antiretroviral drugs he was given, he had not improved. He was much weaker and had a severe cough. A GeneXpert test was ordered for the family and taken to Alive Medical Services. A GeneXpert test is a widely used diagnostic test for tuberculosis. Since they were impressed with the customer care and services at Alive Medical Services (AMS), Emmanuel’s father decided to enrol him in care at AMS after the Tuberculosis treatment.

Emmanuel's father was encouraged to stick with his son's treatment and not give up. As his son was undergoing various treatments, the health workers always assured and encouraged him about his child’s wellbeing.
Despite the challenges Emmanuel’s father faces as a single parent, he is grateful to Alive Medical Services and our donors, because his son is now doing well. He now knows that his beloved son will live and have the opportunity to attend school, live in good health, and pursue

37-year-old Scovia is an HIV-positive mother of 4 children who makes a living selling vegetables along the streets of her neighbourhood in Kampala, Uganda. She learned her HIV status in 2012 while she was pregnant with her first child.
“Before I came to Kampala, I was living in the village with my mother. I needed a lot of assistance since I was a first-time mother, and I was always sickly, and we assumed it was a normal illness. A friend of my mother came to visit, and she got concerned about my situation. We took her through what the situation seemed to be like. She requested my mother for me to come along with her to the city without saying anything concerning her suspicions that I might have contracted HIV and I was showing some signs." Scovia thinks back.
Just like any first-time mother, Ruth was excited to come to the city and probably have her first child born in the city. Since AMS’ Elimination of Mother To Child Transmission of HIV (EMTCT) efforts demonstrate ending mother to child transmission of HIV and ending AIDS as a public health threat, Scovia who was 6 months pregnant was immediately registered for antenatal care and there she was tested for HIV. Her result was positive, the good news is that she was immediately enrolled in care for the safety of her unborn child.
Scovia has been under Alive Medical Services care for 10 years now and she has had all 3 her children discharged from the EMTCT clinic HIV negative and is excited for this last one, as she tells.
"I want to thank all the partners, donors, and everyone who is involved in our wellbeing. Thank you to Alive Medical Services and the entire staff, they treat us the same and all the health workers, it is like they were born and raised from one family." Scovia excitingly declares.
Pregnant women like Scovia infected with HIV are at high risk of transmitting HIV to their infants during pregnancy, during birth, or through breastfeeding. However, the support from partners like GlobalGiving enables Alive Medical Services to eliminate new HIV infections among children in Uganda through the EMTCT program, and ending AIDS as a public threat cannot be accomplished by one single actor alone.