If not for proper medication, seven-year-old Veena would have been tagged as an HIV positive child forever.
A Bangalore trust cares for destitute kids born to HIV positive mothers
BANGALORE: If not for proper medication, seven-year-old Veena would have been tagged as an HIV positive child forever. Or worse, she could have added to the affected-children population of over 2.5 lakh in India. The fate of two-year-old Lawrence, who now has been diagnosed as HIV negative and is waiting to be adopted, would also have been similar. But they live proper lives now. And so do, five-year-old Santosh, who was on medication for two years. He now goes to school near his home after he turned out to be HIV negative. All thanks to Deena Seva Charitable Trust in Bangalore.
”The children otherwise would have been begging on roads or died as orphans,” says the head of the trust, Mother Willigard. The home that was opened only for affected children in 2001, now houses over 56 affected children and 20 HIV positive women.
The children are brought here by HIV positive mothers or relatives of diseased parents who suspect that the children have also been affected by the dreaded virus. “If they are born to HIV positive mothers, they may test positive. But with medication and nutritious food, some of them become HIV negative when tested after one and a half year,” said Sister Veronica, who is in-charge of the HIV children’s wing.
But test results of a new born baby can be often erroneous, warns consultant Dr Nagaraj. “Not all kids contract the HIV virus from their mothers. But when you test the baby after its birth, it may be HIV positive since it contains the antigens of the affected mother. The baby should be at least one and half year old for the first test. If it tests positive again, it means it is affected,” he explained.
“The new-born babies should not be breast-fed and be treated with anti-infection drug since there is a risk of contracting the disease,” he added. The children are treated at various hospitals in Bangalore.
When tests show they are HIV negative, the children are sent to various adoption centres and non-government organisations. Ashraya, an NGO, has taken the maximum number of children from the trust. “A few have been adopted by parents from across the world,” said Reena Pinto, a social worker with the NGO.
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