In all ways young women are a priority

For anything to do with an HIV-free generation, ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030, focusing on young mothers and their children is very, very critical, says Dr Linda Kisakye, Coordinator AIDS Control Program at the Ministry of Health in Uganda. She was present at the co-creation workshop of the new Bloom project last May. This project works to achieve a healthy future for children and their young mothers (10-24) living with or exposed to HIV in Uganda. Watch her interview below!

“In our recent PMTCT impact evaluation, we found that most of the transmissions that are happening to children are coming from young mothers. In all ways they are a priority because they form a big part of our population, they have the biggest burden of the problem. So for anything to do with an HIV-free generation, ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030, focusing on young mothers and their children is very, very critical.

Community leadership is very, very important. One because these young mothers live in the community, they come from the community to come to us. So if the community doesn’t make it possible for them, they will not come to the facility to access services. So we work with the community to make sure that they swallow their ARVs. They come back for services when they need them, they stay with us in care. They look out for the things that show that this mother is not doing very well, then all of us would achieve a lot.

We look forward to this project, increasing the number of young mothers that come to get services, that we do not see any child born HIV positive from these young mothers that are part of the project and that all their babies are healthy and surviving well. Services they need including ART, viral load suppression, so that they can remain healthy enough to look after their children for as long as possible.”

About Bloom project

Young mothers living with HIV experience the burden of double stigma. This prevents them and their children form accessing HIV, health, education and other services.  The Bloom project works to achieve a healthy future for children and their young mothers (10-24) living with or exposed to HIV in Uganda. The project is an inspiring collaboration of three Ugandan community-based organisations: Community Health Alliance Uganda (CHAU), Joy Initiatives Uganda and Uganda Young Positives, and is funded by Aidsfonds.

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