The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Taking HIV+ children into the social fold

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Saturday, Aug 16, 2008
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Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Taking HIV+ children into the social fold

Shyama Rajagopal

Need for special adolescent education stressed

Rise in number of children with HIV/AIDS who have reached adolescence
State yet to have special package for HIV/AIDS affected families

KOCHI: When the State is grappling with the fact that there are no modules and curriculum or trained teachers for implementing adolescent education as part of the School Health Programme, yet another group of children who need a special package are those living with HIV/AIDS.

There is a growing number of children with HIV/AIDS who have reached an adolescent stage, and there is a need to make them get into the social milieu in spite of their HIV+ status. Officially there are a few hundred children who are taking anti-retroviral treatment (ART) in the State and there are more who either do not need it now or their parents have yet to get them registered.

The ART has been able to provide better living for the HIV+ people but they are unable to eek out a normal living in society because of their status, said Anil Joseph, secretary of the Council of People Living with HIV+ in Kerala (CPK+).

The fact is people with HIV/AIDS are not considered to survive for long, says Mr. Joseph. However, ART has improved their health standards and at least half of the children with HIV/AIDS are over 10 years and a certain percentage is also in the prime teens. These children, without being isolated, need to have adolescent education and should realise the gravity of their HIV+ status, he says.

Since the government is yet to come up with any package to provide even economic aid for families facing social isolation, an education package seems rather bleak. As ART has improved the health of many HIV+ people, their needs have also increased, just like any other person.

Pitiable conditions

The living conditions of a HIV+ family where the bread-earning male has died is rather pitiable. It is rather hard on the woman left alone to fend for the family as her educational level would not give a job and she would not be accepted in the social milieu with her HIV+ status. Even those few who have been taken as the staff at various NGOs working in the same field find it difficult to make ends meet.

In spite of the awareness programmes regarding HIV/AIDS, there are a number of issues that children as well as adults continue to disregard. All children born to HIV+ parents may not inherit this status, said Dr. Devashish Dutta, UNICEF specialist in HIV/AIDS for Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Only 30 per cent of children born to HIV+ parents are likely to inherit the status. According to him, children affected with HIV/AIDS would constitute about 5 per cent of the total numbers of people with HIV/AIDS.

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