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Country Profiles |
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FHI Launches Initiative to Treat HIV-positive Children, Reduce Orphaning |
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SEPTEMBER 2007 — Family Health International has launched a bold new response to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic that will dramatically improve the lives of children and families in the developing world. FHI's initiative is a response to the twin epidemics of HIV among children and orphaning due to AIDS. It seeks to bring antiretroviral therapy to a greater number of children, and reduce the incidence of orphaning due to HIV. "We are failing the world's children," says Albert Siemens, chief executive officer of FHI, based in Research Triangle Park, N.C. "HIV-related orphaning is creating a desperate situation where, in many cases, children are caring for children. This is a massive tragedy. More must be done." Specifically, FHI's goals are to:
Reclaiming a Generation Lost
With more than 30 years of experience in infectious disease programs in the developing world, FHI knows that to meet the short- and long-term needs of children, we must focus on the entire family. By prolonging the lives of parents who are ill, — or by preventing illness in the first place — we increase their children's ability to develop healthy, productive lives of their own. This new initiative is further shaped by two FHI projects that address the complexities of orphaning. The first program, Nuru Ya Jamii ("Light of the Family" in Swahili), has prevented hundreds of Kenya children from becoming orphaned. The second, LifeWorks, is addressing the root causes of illness, such as poverty and joblessness, in East Africa. By rapidly expanding the core elements of these programs, we not only extend life, but increase a community's vitality. Throughout the 70 countries where FHI operates research or public health program activities, its work is defined by strong partnerships with organizations of all types — governments, universities, other non-profit organizations, and community- and faith-based organizations. In that same spirit, FHI does not expect to accomplish the initiative's goals alone, and seeks partners to help realize these goals. Interested organizations should email Vice President Manisha Bharti. PHOTOS (by Jim Daniels): (Top) Nine-year-old Pauline shows her "memory book" of her parents, who died of HIV-related illnesses. Pauline has been HIV-positive since she was an infant and is being raised by her teenage cousin Frank, who is also an orphan. Thanks to the medical care she receives through Nuru Ya Jamii, FHI's comprehensive care program for families affected by AIDS, Pauline is now well enough to attend school and ranks 17th in her class of 100 students. "The medicines that she takes, they are good," says Frank. "Now she can eat and her body is becoming strong." (Bottom) Jane Anyango Adero hugs her son Leslie after learning that he and his brother Wayne (on right) have tested negative for HIV. Jane, who is living with HIV, receives services from and volunteers for Nuru Ya Jamii, a comprehensive care program for families affected by AIDS that FHI has committed to expanding. Of her volunteer work providing in-home support to 25 families, Jane says, "Often people feel that the volunteers are not wearing the same shoes they're wearing. Then I tell them I'm HIV positive and they can be like me if they get services and care." |
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This initiative builds upon FHI's HIV treatment successes. Having delivered ART to more than 100,000 persons, FHI knows from experience the importance of these lifesaving drugs. Today, only about 15 percent of all children who need ART have access to it. One quarter to one third of untreated HIV-infected children die before their first birthday, half or more by their second birthday, and four-fifths by age five, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). By the year 2010, the number of children orphaned by AIDS is expected to more than double to 25 million or more globally – equal to the number of people who have died of AIDS since HIV was first recognized 25 years ago.