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Children and Youth Facing HIV/AIDS Session at AIDS 2008
About this event: XVII International AIDS Conference
Related to country: Mexico

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Children and Youth Facing HIV/AIDS
August 4, 2008
International AIDS Conference 2008

The session opened with Stephanie Raper, of Australia, a young person born HIV+ and Peter Laugharn, of the Netherlands. During the session similarities between panelists emerged such as their findings related to the discrimination and stigma youth living with HIV face in their daily lives. Adriana Gomez, of Brazil, spoke about a magazine called “Living as a Young Person,” this magazine featured workshops conducted in March – August 2007 and was first published in 2004. During those workshops, youth shared their feelings, fears and hopes. Similarly, Christabell, from Kenya, representing a group called Stay Alive Group support (SAYG), spoke about the wide gap between non-infected and infected youth, young people’s reluctance to get tested, and the lack of commitment young people have to support infected persons. Panelists also touched upon the double standard between adult and children disclosure; adults are told about their status via well trained health care providers while children and youth are often told their status via parents or caregivers who are not properly trained to support them. Discussions also focused on a growing body of evidence that suggests that while orphan hood in Africa is an important factor, it is not the only factor. Research has shown that orphans do not necessarily suffer greater deprivation so, including factors such as orphan hood, we must consider poverty, regional factors, and gender disparities as more effective measures.

Panelists showed that without education youth can perceive HIV+ status as a ‘death sentence’ and untreatable, they feel shame and exclude themselves from society. Those not infected and uneducated about the subject often use derogatory language, play ‘the blame game,’ and excluded HIV+ persons from society; as Christabell noted “discrimination leads to stigma, whether knowingly or unknowingly”. However, with proper support and education youth who are living with HIV have a better outlook on life and can see the possibilities for a brighter future.

In the future Panelists would like to see more effective strategies to combat reluctance to get tested and hold youth accountable to know their status. Panelists recommended that health care workers and parents receive training to properly support young people, take them through the testing process and also to communicate status disclosure with youth appropriately since “trust in [your parents] is key, if you can’t trust your parents who can you trust?... Keeping an illness from a child, a child who has their own body and their own mind, is devastating and should not happen” as Stephanie Raper noted. Best practices include those exemplified by SAYG who provides psychological support, opportunities to form partnerships on health issues and information for peer education. SAYG uses effective approaches including community asset mapping, programs and interventions and community resources. Developing disclosure guidelines and best practices is also important. There is also a strong need for youth friendly services so that youth feel comfortable about being tested and are open to receiving support.

August 4, 2008 | 12:12 PM Comments  0 comments

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