5 children die every month due to HIV

Raghu, a three-year-old from Narole, has been diagnosed with HIV infection and is currently staying with a local NGO. Sadly, both of Raghu’s parents, who were HIV-infected, did not opt for treatment even when Raghu was conceived owing to social stigma. Which is why, the HIV virus got transmitted into Raghu and he is now under continuous medication at ART Centre.

“Due to social stigma, Raghu’s parents did not take any medical precautionary measures to save their children from the infection. The child was delivered at home to save themselves from the shame,” said Bharat Tamang, project manager, Desire, an NGO working for HIV-infected children.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), though the number of HIV infections in India has decreased, every month, 33 children in the age group of 1 to 18 years get registered as new HIV infection cases in Mumbai. And many of these infected children aged 1 to 14 years succumb to HIV. Every month, five children die because of HIV infection in Mumbai. In the past five years between 2011 and 2015 (November), nearly 300 children have succumbed to HIV infection in the city. A Right to Information (RTI) application filed by The Asian Age has revealed these statistics.

Mr Tamang said, “The government provides medicines for free at ART centres but no attention is paid to the nutrition level of the child. If a child is hungry, will he be interested in consuming medicine or food Children should be provided with a nutrition kit as it helps in making their immunity stronger. There have been incidences where hungry children have taken medicines with a cup of tea.”

If a pregnant woman is diagnosed with HIV, from the time of diagnosis till 18 months after delivery, she, along with her child, needs to be under continuous medication.

HIV expert Dr Ram Malkani said, “If a pregnant HIV woman takes proper medication, chances of transferring the infection to the child decrease by 80 per cent. Also, it is essential to follow up with ART centres to do the required tests until the child turns 18 months’ old. Incomplete testing will not reveal the medical condition of the child which can later prove fatal.”

However, as per RTI data, there is a huge discrepancy in the number of pregnant women diagnosed with HIV and the number of such women who continue with testing of their newborn babies till 18 months. In 2014, 270 pregnant women were diagnosed with HIV while only 58 per cent of them followed it up with testing of their children till 18 months. In 2015 however, the percentage increased to 80. Till November 2015, 209 pregnant women were diagnosed with HIV, out of which, 172 made regular follow ups.

Additional project director, Mumbai District Aids Control Society, Shrikala Acharya, said, “The number of deaths has gone down drastically. In 2013, it was in three digits but now, it has come down to two digits.”