Physical Health Zambia Project #6672

Health Care for 500 HIV+ Children in Zambia

by Power of Love Foundation

Health Care for 500 HIV+ Children in Zambia

Project Report | Mar 10, 2019
Heartwarming Numbers from the Field

By Alka Subramanian | Executive Director

Health check-up at home

In 2018, generous people like yourself, donated approximately $15,000 to support Power of Love's pediatric HIV care program in Zambia. These funds helped provide a comprehensive package of life saving health care services to 400 HIV+ children, ongoing training to family members, PMTCT education to HIV+ pregnant women, and school support to vulnerable families. The provision of these program activities resulted in a huge and sustained impact on hundreds of families in our community.

A Lot of Good Things Happened in 2018

A lot of good things happened in 2018. The number of children and family members impacted are given below:

Direct and Indirect beneficiaries: 2400 children and family members.
Children receiving food and high protein soya supplements: 150
Better health of children measured by increase in weight and frequency and intensity of infections: 158
Children provided with psycho social counseling once they are aware of their HIV+ status: 172
Children provided with education in HIV: 172
Children provided with monitoring and training in adherence to medications:172
Family members provided with psycho-social counseling: 386
Family members tested for HIV: 230
Family members provided with counseling after testing positive for HIV: 245
Family members receiving ongoing training in HIV care and prevention: 386
Family members receiving business training and loans to start a business: 168
Families receiving education in malaria and long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito bed nets: 386
Number of children born HIV free to HIV+ moms: 38 out of 39
Children supported with school expenses such as school fees, uniforms, shoes, or school bags: 79

Program Impact: In addition to improved health and more children attending school, families have better knowledge about HIV and malaria. This results in community residents taking steps to prevent new HIV infections and the spread of HIV. As a result, we are seeing a lower lower incidence of HIV and reduced stigma amongst beneficiary families and are confident these results will spread to the larger community.

Plans for 2019

Add 50 HIV+ children to bring the total number of children under our care to 450.
Continue to monitor the health of children under our care so that they never develop AIDS.
Zero new HIV infections via PMTCT (Prevention-of-Mother-to-Child-Transmission).
Track school attendance and performance to ensure the children are learning.
Encourage older children to volunteer with us as these children can be role models and mentors for younger children.
Expand the skill set of community members via the provision of education and training programs.
Gather more in-depth feedback from community residents.

Overall, the ripple effects of our comprehensive approach are significant, sustained, and continue to strengthen families in the community.

Thanks for making healthcare accessible to hundreds of orphans and vulnerable children in Zambia.

A typical child in our program

This little girl love school

Links:

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Dec 31, 2018
A Lot of Good Things Happened in 2018

By Alka Subramanian | Executive Director

Children in conversation

Wishing you and your family a 2019 filled with peace and joy!

Power of Love's pediatric HIV care program has been providing health-care services in an impoverished neighborhood in Lusaka, Zambia for the past 14 years. Most residents are poor, many are HIV+, have little education, and need our support. Direct beneficiaries are 400 HIV+ children and indirect beneficiaries are estimated to be an additional 1900 community residents. As we close 2018, we wanted to give you an overview of program activities, their impact, and our plan for the upcoming year.

Impact

The goal of all program activities is to prevent new HIV infections, and to ensure that no child under our care develops AIDS. With your support, all 400 HIV+ children under our care are improving or stable in health. The families have better knowledge about HIV, more people are coming forward for testing, and there are more open discussions about HIV. All these result in HIV prevention, reduced stigma and discrimination, and higher school attendance and performance.

Highlights of program activities in 2018.

Added 50 children: This brings the total to 400 HIV+ children under our care.
Training in HIV was provided to 53 new family members to ensure that the new children are under the care of a trained caregiver 24/7. This is in addition to the ongoing training provided to family members during home visits.
Psychosocial counseling provided to all children. This helps children adjust to their HIV status, interact better with peers, and feel a sense of belonging in the community.
Testing for HIV: More than 300 family members were tested for HIV and provided with counseling services.
School support: 63 children were provided with funds to help pay for school fees, books, school bags, uniforms, shoes.
Electronic health records: A simple electronic health records system was implemented to help improve health outcomes.
Adherence to medication: All children are adhering to their medication regimen. At present we have 100% adherence to medications.
High protein soya supplement: Provision of a high protein soya supplement ensured that no child was malnourished and reduced the number of undernourished children.
Program services: All 400 HIV+ children receive food, medicines and a package of life saving health care services and will continue to do so till they turn 18 years of age. As a result, their health is stable or improving as measured by weight and CD4 counts.

Plan for 2019

Add 50 to100 HIV+ children.
Continue to monitor the health of children under our care.
Zero new HIV infections via PMTCT (Prevention-of-Mother-to-Child-Transmission).
Track school attendance and performance to ensure the children are learning.
Encourage older children to volunteer as these children are role models and mentors for younger children.
Expand the skill set of community members via the provision of education and training programs.
Gather more in-depth feedback from community residents.

Thanks for making healthcare accessible to hundreds of orphans and vulnerable children in Zambia.

Training session for family members

A typical child in our program

Links:

Permalink

Dec 9, 2018
Thank You for Giving the Gift of Health to HIV+ Children in Zambia

By Alka Subramanian | Executive Director

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