HIV

The birth of a child is a joyous moment for any mother, but for Sar Sim it was an especially happy moment. Having earlier been diagnosed with HIV, she was worried that her baby would be born with HIV.

Thankfully, she had been given treatment to prevent the virus being transmitted and when baby Sung Ya was born he was HIV free. Sar Sim says that finding out her son was not living with HIV was the happiest moment of her life.

Photo: Sar Sim and SungYa. Photo: Nop Sambath.

It had all seemed so different when Sar Sim first found out her own status. She became ostracized from her neighbours, some people were afraid they were going to catch the virus. Life became very difficult and Sar Sim lost all hope.

Her life changed on the day the Cambodian HIV/AIDS Education and Care (CHEC) team paid a visit to her home. They provided food and helped her access treatment to help Sar Sim regain her strength.  They also helped to educate her friends and family about HIV and how it can be prevented. When Sar Sim became pregnant, CHEC linked her to services that prevent mother to child transmission of HIV.

Thanks to the intervention of CHEC, Sung Ya is healthy and free from HIV and Sar Sim has been accepted back into her community. 

“My son is now 4 years old and plays with other children in the village,” she says. “I could never have believed this was possible given the difficult times I faced in the village not so long ago.

“I would like to say thank you to CHEC for ensuring my family’s future and other I hope CHEC will continue to help others affected by so that they too can support themselves.”

Every day, more than 1,000 children are born with HIV.  Half of these children will not survive to their second birthday.  In developed countries like Ireland, mother to child transmission of HIV has almost been eliminated. It is possible and cost effective to eliminate mother to child transmission of HIV in low and middle income countries with the right level of funding and the political will.
 

Tigist Mekonen was married with three children when she began to feel unwell. Sickness came in waves and Tigist, a fruit seller in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, found it increasingly difficult to find the energy to get through each day.

Already struggling to make ends meet, Tigist was worried that illness might prevent her from working. She heard about the Daughters of Charity clinic and decided to attend. It was here that Tigist discovered she was living with HIV.

Photo: Tigist Mekonen with her 2 year old baby Tariku who' s HIV free thanks to Trócaire partners Daughers of Charity.

The diagnosis did not sit well with her husband, Tesfay, who disappeared for five months upon hearing the news. Tigist had urged him to get tested but he refused, saying he would prefer not to know his status.

Eventually, Tesfay returned and, two years after finding out she was HIV positive, Tigist became pregnant.

“The pregnancy came as a shock,” she says. “It was not planned and all I could do was pray to God not to make the child HIV positive like me.  I received counseling from the Daughters of Charity clinic and they told me it was possible that my baby could be HIV negative if I followed their advice.  But I was afraid to believe them.

“I followed all the advice from the clinic and breast feed my baby up to six months only. I went through all the checkups and was overjoyed when I got the result that Tariku, now aged 2 years and eight months, is HIV negative.”

Tesfay has since left the marriage, leaving Tigist alone with four children to raise. With the help she is receiving from the Daughters of Charity, a partner organisation of Trócaire, Tigist is doing better than ever. She is receiving treatment which ensures that she can live a full life despite her HIV status and has also started her own business.

“If it were not for the project, I would have been on the street begging by now,” she says. “I was lucky to be included in an income generating scheme run by the Daughters of Charity. I was given 2500 Birr to start a business selling Injera [a local food].  My business is doing well and helps me pay the rent and feed my children.

“I thank those who helped me stay alive.  I am grateful that I am able to look after my children; I am so indebted.”

In Ethiopia, only 8% of positive women can access treatment to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV.  With treatment the risk of transmitting HIV from parent to child can be reduced by over 95%.  In Ireland and other developed countries we have virtually eliminated mother to child transmission of HIV. It is possible and cost effective to eliminate mother to child transmission of HIV in low and middle income countries with the right level of funding and the political will.

Take action - Send an e-mail to Minister Jan O’Sullivan, calling on her to keep HIV as a priority in Ireland’s development work.

Martha was convinced that she was going to die. She had just been diagnosed as living with HIV and considered it a death sentence. When she saw her children she would burst into tears.

Some of her neighbours were angry with her. They accused her of introducing HIV into the area and were cruel to her.

Photos: Martha and Micheal with their son Tapiwa in Zimbabwe. Although Martha is living with HIV, Tapiwa was born HIV free. Photos by Eithne Brennan.

Others were kind, and one neighbour encouraged her to visit the Mashambanzou Care Trust. Here, Martha learnt that she could live a perfectly healthy life despite her HIV status.

Martha soon discovered that she was pregnant and was worried that her child would be born with HIV. However, staff at the centre gave her treatment to prevent the virus being transmitted from mother to child.

Martha’s husband, Michael, was angry when she told him they were expecting.  He felt guilty that the baby could be born with HIV. He thought they should avoid having children altogether because of their HIV status. Martha told him about the treatment to prevention transmission of HIV from the mother to the child, but Michael was still worried.

When his son was born, Michael’s attitude changed. Although they had little money to spare, they bought a chicken and a cake to celebrate Tapiwa’s HIV negative result. 

Now approaching his second birthday, Tapiwa is healthy and happy. He lives with his parents, his brother and sister and two of his cousins, Chipo and Chinga, who lost their parents to AIDS related illnesses. 

Tapiwa is a daddies boy –his hands are often covered in paint from ‘helping’ his dad in his carpentry workshop. Despite his shy character Tapiwa’s parents see that he is a very intelligent and industrious little boy.  They say that his favorite thing to do is to spend the day alongside his dad, working with him. 

An estimated 370,000 children were born with HIV in 2009. In developed countries like Ireland, mother to child transmission of HIV has almost been eliminated. It is possible and cost effective to eliminate mother to child transmission of HIV in low and middle income countries with the right level of funding and the political will.
 

Take action - Send an e-mail to Minister Jan O’Sullivan, calling on her to keep HIV as a priority in Ireland’s development work.