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this page Newsletters - The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Children
Guyana
HIV/AIDS was first identified in Guyana in 1987; in 1988 five women were among the 34 new cases. Statistics now show that women are 39% of all cases reported and 600 infants were infected with HIV during pregnancy, labour, delivery and breast feeding.
Approaches to prevent HIV infection in infants and young children are:
primary prevention – preventing unwanted pregnancies and HIV transmission from women to their infants; and provision of care and support to HIV-infected women, their children and families. In Guyana, prevention of mother-to-child transmission is an integral part of all antenatal clinics.
The impact of this disease on families in Guyana is overwhelming. The sad fact is that despite the advertisements promoting safe sex and encouraging young people to abstain until marriage and the distribution of free condoms, some of the males believe they cannot contract the disease. A large percentage of these men are married and indulging in extra-marital relationships. This reckless behaviour puts the unsuspecting wife at risk and when she becomes pregnant the child is also at risk. If the couple already have children and, as is the custom, the woman leaves it to the last moment to attend a clinic or have the baby at home, there may not be the opportunity for them to be counselled and possibly tested for HIV. If the parents do carry the virus and become too ill to work or die, there is no one to care for the remaining child or children. In some cases a grandmother or even an older sibling may have no choice but to take on the responsibility.
Due to the fact that this disease generally affects the poorer class and Guyana has no Social Security to assist persons in need, the carer has to devise ways of survival. This often leads to children begging on the streets, prostitution, and sexual abuse, which in turn can lead to the further spread of the disease.
These children are not a part of the school system, leading to illiteracy, a scourge in the past but more recently almost non-existent in Guyana. While the number of vulnerable children is unknown, in 2002 the estimated number under 15 who had lost one or both parents to AIDS was 4,200.
The Mothers’ Union continues to work actively in various ways to assist: we are involved in school feeding programmes, literacy classes for youths ages 14-30, HIV-awareness talks and workshops to groups in churches, schools and clubs, and the distribution of hampers – especially to children who are vulnerable.
Recently Mothers’ Union members, including myself, spent one week in the hinterland area educating and training a group of indigenous people of Guyana on HIV/AIDS, and also training 12 of them to train others in the future. This is one way of doing God’s work in his beautiful garden and putting our faith into action.
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