- PROBLEM
STATEMENT
Observing the Zambian campaign
against HIV/AIDS one easily notices that VCT treatment and care
have mainly been concentrated on the adult population to make
personal decisions excluding the children. No deliberate
programs have been put in place to encourage parents to take
their children for VCT, a starting point for ART treatment and
care. The only program that seems to focus on children is the
prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT). As a result,
most children born before the PMTCT role out program have had no
chance of their status being established.
Currently many mothers who have tested and are taking Anti
Retroviral Drugs (ARVs), have not taken their children for VCT.
Some of these children were born outside the PMTCT program, yet
their parents have not taken initiative of taking them for VCT.
This may be as a result of most messages on VCT and HIV in the
media are also tailored to suit the needs of adults, to the
disadvantage of pediatrics that are unable to make such
decisions on their own, as a result children die of AIDS when
they could have lived longer, if they were given ARVS. Maybe the
child negligence in the VCT child campaign could be the old
notion that children born with HIV die before their first
birthday
This problem has been mainly due to lack of education and
pediatric VCT/CTC community educators who can in many ways help
spread messages and empower parents and communities with
knowledge on pediatric VCT/CTC thus reducing information gaps
between health centers and the communities. These gaps of
information between the health service providers and the
community have led parents not to see and realize the need of
children to access services like VCT even when these services
are already available, free and within their reach. Other
specific services may include home based care and nutrition
support groups.
This situation is undesirable even when 10,000 children are
already on ART representing 14% of the total population on Arts
in Zambia . Of these only 7% are children below the age of 14.
It is also important to note that children under the age of 14
constitute 44.6% of the urban and rural population of Zambia
according to the CSO figures of 2000 census projected to 2007
and our reason for this campaign.
This problem can easily be corrected by running pediatric VCT/CTC
training/awareness programs to promote pediatric VCT/CTC
awareness. This will be done by training of pediatric VCT
community educators in already existing HIV/AIDS campaign groups
who help change the course of VCT campaigns message to include
pediatrics. The training program in itself is advocacy and will
empower and challenge HIV/AIDS campaign groups to develop their
pediatric awareness programs in their communities.
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