Support 500 HIV Children in trauma in Tamilnadu

The reporting period of three months since October this year has proved to be eventful in its own rights. Even the physically able bodied members belonging to the unorganized labor sections find it extremely difficult to find livelihood sources in these pandemic times. In such circumstances the lives of the persons living with HIV and their children is very pathetic.

As the children living with HIV and the adults have to undergo the ART therapy mandatory for their very survival, their nutritional requirements are very high. But while the ART medicine is given to these victims of HIV by the government free of cost, they have to find their own sources the vital food requirement.

And hence the children living with HIV and the children of those parents living with HIV who form part of the project were being helped out during the period with dry food kits and nutrition kits. We are able to carry out this intervention with the assistance from Give India. Both the children living with HIV and the adults living with HIV are given the nutritional food kits and dry rations for food every month respectively.

The peer meetings which used to be part of our main HIV activities are not being held for long thanks to the need to keep   pandemic protocols. With the NGO involvement having become minimal due to the shrinking funds for HIV related activities as the Covid pandemic has become the main focus and priority during the last two years.

There is high degree of hesitation and apprehensions among the persons living with HIV here to receive the Covid vaccination jabs as they already have poor immunity. And we have been involved in counseling them to receive both the medical vaccination at the earliest and to maintain social vaccination norms such as wearing masks, social distancing and washing of hands etc.

The schools have been reopened after a long time and the condition of the children living with HIV has to be closely monitored as maintaining the CD4 count of those living with HIV is of paramount importance.