Imagine
randomly deciding to take the HIV test and being diagnosed HIV positive. Think
about the thousands of thoughts and regression models that would run in your
mind to establish the correlation of the experiences the journey of life has
taken you and the moment that just came to being. You had lived a modest and
prayerful life not deserving this moment. You want to question your parents but
can’t seem to find a direct line connecting to the land of no return, only to
be told by your relatives that they suspect them to also have had what you
have. You think this is the end of life but you hear a kind voice saying, “It’s going to be alright!” In your
disconnect, the health personnel at the clinic tells you that you are not alone
and if you start and stay on Anti-Retroviral Treatment you can still enjoy life
like anybody else [enjoy a long and
healthy life…. They say you are going to be connected to a group of
other young people also living positively with HIV. You don’t believe it but
you take the referral letter anyway and hope to try out for the group meeting
and decide on the next step of your life from there! This is what young people
I interacted with described their experience finding out about their HIV
status.
It is estimated that
1,030,400 people (2016, Spectrum) are living with HIV in Malawi. Most of the times we think that the majority
of the people living with HIV have gotten it from sexual intercourse. However,
there are young people who get infected by HIV from their parents or blood
transfusion. Imagine how hard it is to understand this new turn of events and
embrace a new order of life. To know how important your compliance to drinking
your dosage daily. To take serious charge of your health early and not because
of diseases associated with old age. The complexity of this, one can only
imagine…
Today
the 1st of December, 2017, is World AIDS Day which marks a great
moment to reflect on Young People Living with HIV. The global theme of this
year’s World AIDS Day is “The Right to Health” but Malawi has
localized the theme to “The Right to Health: Access to Quality HIV Prevention
and Treatment for All.” This
is to emphasize the importance of the need to ensure expanded access to
life-saving medicines, expanded health systems and increased access to
acceptable and quality health and social protection services, without
discrimination or coercion. The rights-based approach provides everyone with
the right to realize the highest attainable standard of health without
discrimination or stigma.
It
is universally recognized that when one enjoys their right, they can have power
to live their life productively. While some people may be forthcoming to demand
their rights, I believe that some people especially Young People Living with
HIV will continually require support, mostly psycho-social, to fully access
their right to health. The World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/hiv/topics/psychosocial/support/en/)
states that with adequate support, people living with HIV are more likely to be
able to respond adequately to the stress of being infected and are less likely
to develop serious mental health problems. The journey to stay on ART starts
with one accepting their status and this is not easy without support from
health personnel, family and friends.
I
am privileged to have had a chance to see how peer support, counselling and
life-coaching programs are key to attainment of the right to health for Young
People Living with HIV at Baylor College of Medicine-Children’s Foundation. A
simple day of fun playing football or board games, memorizing ART names and
reminding each other of the importance of staying on ART makes a huge difference
in reminding children and young people living with HIV that as long as they
continue taking their ART they can still live life large like anybody else! Through
my volunteer work as a mentor at the foundation, I have had the opportunity to
meet very ambitious and energetic girls and boys who are not letting their
status impede them from reaching their dreams and I believe this is because of
the support they get from psycho-social programs like those being offered by
Baylor College of Medicine, Lighthouse, Partners in Health, Dignitas
International, District
Hospitals and other development partners.
In
conclusion, it is great to note that Malawi has registered great strides in the
HIV fight. Between the years 2000 and 2017, new annual HIV infections among
adults fell by over 50 % from 65000 to 30,000. A decline in new infections
among children under 15 years old from 27000 to 4000 – a decline of 87 %. This
has led to adoption of the 90:90:90 campaign which aims to have 90 percent of all PLHIV know
their HIV status; 90 percent of all people with diagnosed HIV infection receiving
sustained ART; and 90 percent of all people receiving
ART having viral suppression. I
believe that the success of this will also be dependent on continued investments
in psycho-social support programs for Young People Living with HIV. We can also be part of this support by being supportive of those affected by HIV and calling out all forms of stigma in our schools, organizations and communities
