Physical Health Eswatini Project #17222

HIV Care for 5000 children/caregivers in Swaziland

by Kudvumisa Foundation USA Inc

HIV Care for 5000 children/caregivers in Swaziland

Project Report | Apr 16, 2015
Hope for a young child and his family against HIV

By Jabulani Maziya | Program Officer

Phinda and his dad with the CHIPS van

Phinda, a young boy who was born on the 5^th June 2010, tested HIV positive at the age of three at Mangweni clinic in 2013. The mother had not participated in the highly effective PMTCT (Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission) program and passed on the virus to the child. In a story to be repeated for her child’s treatment, the distance and cost to get to a hospital or clinic that could provide appropriate treatment was too far out of the reach of her and her husband.

Poverty has a devastating effect on families and the choices they make for health care, food, clothes…….

The toddler was not only suffering from HIV but malnutrition, a situation which was beyond the ability of the local government clinic to assist. The child was referred to Baylor Paediatric clinic in Mbabane for care and treatment: on the other side of the country. The father is unemployed and the mother is a fruit and vegetable vendor, barely making enough to subsist. They found it impossible to raise the E150 (≈$15) bus fare for a round trip to Mbabane.

Phinda’s health began a downward spiral. On the 9^th of September 2014 he weighed 13.5 kg (29.8 lbs). In January of this year, the child was diagnosed with pulmonary TB. The family was forced to go into debt to pay for the transport of the child to Mbabane to receive treatment and care. On the 1^st of February 2015, his weight had dropped to 11.8 kg (26 lbs). He was successfully enrolled on TB treatment at Baylor and was scheduled to return to Mbabane on the 2^nd of March for review. But due to the continued financial constraints the family faced, his parents could not honour the appointment. The clinic made follow-up calls to the parents, but there was no way they could afford the trip to Mbabane. Bending government rules, the clinic rescheduled them for the 16^th March 2015, but they still could not honour the appointment.

The doctors at Baylor contacted the Kudvumisa Foundation Medical Director requesting help on behalf of the desperate child and destitute family. CHIPS had recently expanded into Phinda’s home area. He was then rescheduled with two other Kudvumisa clients receiving treatment in Mbabane for the 27^th of March 2015. Because Kudvumisa was able to provide transport, Phinda received his TB medication and was enrolled on ART (Anti-Retroviral Treatment) to fight the HIV infection. His next appointment is on the 21^st April 2015, which he will be able to honour, only because Kudvumisa is there to provide transport for him and his father to the very distant clinic. While he has a hard road ahead of him, there is now hope that he is on the road to full recovery. Kudvumisa has pledged to carry him through.

Phinda - 3 years old with HIV & TB

Phinda

Links:

Giving Hope in the face of HIV & Poverty

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Jan 15, 2015
Surviving Late Stage HIV/AIDS

By Jabulani Maziya | Program Officer

Thobile - Vuvulane Swaziland

Thobile, a widow, a mother of five children and 35 years old, had her first HIV test done in late 2013 by Kudvumisa Foundation. She was sero-reactive. Shocked and disappointed at the results, she refused to do a CD4 count. The Kudvumisa team kept visiting her at her home for extra counselling sessions. Ten days later she found courage and came to the Kudvumisa office to do a CD4 count. Her CD4 result was 30 cells per micro liter above the Swaziland threshold to begin Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) of 350. She disappeared for 3 months and only returned in March 2014. She had a second CD4 test performed which confirmed the beginning of a downward spiral to full blown AIDS. Having recorded 305 cells per micro liter, which was now below the Swaziland upper threshold for beginning ART, she was enrolled on pre-ART and scheduled for ART initiation at Good Shepherd Hospital's ART Clinic.

Kudvumisa provided the transport to Good Shepherd Hospital for Thobile.

During the ART initiation and physical examination at Good Shepherd Hospital, they discovered an abscess, fissure, chronic diarrhea, weight loss, and skin rashes. She was diagnosed just from this as at the World Health Organization’s HIV Clinical Stage 3. She was admitted to the hospital and scheduled to see a surgeon. Post-surgery, she was enrolled on ART.

Progression of HIV from an initial infection to Stage 3 is a slow degeneration of health and strength. Chronic infection and diarrhea sap all strength and ability to work. Children are tasked with helping with care which places even more stress on them as they have to miss school to either work or to care for their mother.

Ten months from initiation and now faithfully taking her ARV's, her CD4 has risen from a mere 305 to 371 cells per micro liter. She is fresh and healthy, regaining strength each day. Today she is proudly employed by the small scale farmers in Vuvulane. Now this mother can now provide for her family.

What would this story have looked like without the outreach Kudvumisa provides in the isolated community Thobile and hundreds of others call home?

First, even if Thobile had tested, there would have been no way she could have afforded the transport to Good Shepherd Hospital for subsequent treatment. And the possibility of testing itself is remote as few outreaches visit these communities. Without the in-community HIV testing, in-community CD4 counts, and free transport to the hospital, Thobile would have suffered a quickening drop in her CD4 count and attacks with increasing frequency of opportunistic infections which would have resulted in her death within a short time.

Her children? They would have joined the ranks of the tens of thousands of HIV/AIDS orphans in the country. Possibly taken in by extended family; more than likely left on their own.

Kudvumisa is dedicated to meeting the health care needs of the people who live in these communities.

Thobile working in the fields - Vuvulane Swaziland

Links:

Giving Hope in the face of HIV & Poverty

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Oct 21, 2014
July Lubisi

By Jabulani Maziya | Project Officer

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