Community Health Workers Making a Difference for Pediatric HIV Clients in South Sudan

Community Health Workers Making a Difference for Pediatric HIV Clients in South Sudan By , Communications OfficerrgoodwinMarch 27, 2024April 01, 2024 12:00 PMInSouth Sudan, community outreach volunteers (COVs) like Lawrence Monday play a key role in the HIV response —linking health facilities and communities to extend services and acting as peers to people living with HIV. Under the supervision of an adherence nurse, Lawrence supports 160 clients on HIV treatment, including 15 children.One of the children Lawrence helps is Timo*, who had a rough start in life. He was born in 2017 into a low-income family in Juba. His biological father was never around to help him as a baby, and his 25-year-old single mother had no job to support him or his two older siblings. She often went to the market to dance with Timo wrapped on her back, and well-wishers would give her some money or food items, which would help feed them for a few days.Diagnosis and struggleTimo ’s mother knew she was HIV-positive. Although she had been receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) from Nyakuron Primary Health Care Center (PHCC), when she became pregnant with Timo in 2016, she refused to take treatment and didn’t attend antenatal appointments. She feared she would be stigmatiz ed at the health facility because she knew people who worked there.When it was time for Timo to be born, his mother had a home delivery without a skilled health care provider. When Timo was three months old, both he and his mo...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Source Type: news