Africa – The Community as the center of care and support
In OCTOBER's edition of the AJANEWS issue, they basically focus on the community being the center of care and support for young people living with HIV. The majority of young people living with HIV, 60 percent of the global total, are in Eastern and Southern Africa. This is according to the UNAIDS report of 2023. With this comes HIV-related social stigma, which prevents people from being open, and increases the isolation of people in families affected by HIV and AIDS. Not only do they have to deal with their own grief and emotional suffering but also this is made worse if the community treats them badly.
The greatest impact of HIV has been on the young people. Many children start playing roles that are usually expected from adults. In many families, they play the adult role of maintaining the house and sometimes even trying to provide an income. Most of them play some nursing role and directly look after the parents who are ill. Older children also play the parent role to their younger siblings. Because of these existing barriers, young people face many challenges that reduce their likelihood of accessing HIV services or continuing ART treatment consistently for those living with HIV.
Most children living with HIV are infected as a result of mother-to-child transmission and their parents often become ill or die when the children are still very young. However the community still negatively judges and neglects them when they are more vulnerable. In many cases, older children drop out of school to look after younger siblings. When they are not provided for by relatives, some end up living on the streets or barely surviving in very impoverished homes. These young people often end up being abused, or drift into gangs, the sex industry and crime. Read more…
Source: ajan.africa
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