Title: Making women central to family care.

POPLINE Document Number: 195373

Author(s):

Phillips D

Source citation:

Global AIDSLink, 2004 Apr-May;(85):4-5.

Abstract:

A mother in Africa shares the concerns of any mother in any country around the world. Will my child be safe? Will my child be healthy? Will she get a good education? Will she be happy? Today, faced with the ravages of the HIV/AIDS pandemic that has hit the continent harder than anywhere else, a mother in Africa faces these issues with increased urgency. Added to her concerns is the realization that she may not live long enough to look after her children, or to teach them how to look after themselves. With a weakened immune system and a CD4 cell count of just one shortly after she gave birth to her second daughter, Margaret, 38, feared she did not have long to live. "I had lost hope," she says. "I had given up [and thought] that I was going to die." At Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, doctors urged Margaret to enroll in MTCT-Plus, a recently- established program at the hospital that would give her access to life-saving drugs, along with specialized care. Six months later, Margaret's CD4 cell count had risen to 147, and her energy returned. The improvement in her health came not a moment too soon. Having passed the virus onto her daughter, Margaret needed all the strength she could gather to care for her ailing family. (excerpt)

Keywords:

Africa
Summary Report
HIV Positive Persons
Mothers
Peer Educators
AIDS Prevention
HIV Prevention
Child Care
Mother-to-Child Transmission
Antiretroviral Therapy
Social Discrimination
Acceptance Process
Developing Countries
HIV Infections
Viral Diseases
Diseases
Parents
Family Relationships
Family Characteristics
Family and Household
Education
AIDS
Child Rearing
Behavior
HIV
Social Problems
Decision Making