The State of the Ugandan Child

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) is proud to announce its participation in the National Forum on the State of the Ugandan Child. This meeting, which brings together health service delivery partners from around the world, will bring Uganda closer to its goal of ensuring that every child is given the right to live a long and healthy life.

In Uganda, there are approximately 150,000 children living with HIV. Since 2000, EGPAF has worked alongside Uganda’s Ministry of Health and other implementing partners to bring HIV prevention and care and treatment services to all in the country. EGPAF has supported Uganda in ensuring prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT); care and treatment of HIV and opportunistic infections (such as tuberculosis and malaria); and that counseling and psychosocial support services are brought to scale.

EGPAF’s work in Uganda has consisted of a comprehensive approach to health care, but our mission remains the same: every child deserves a long and healthy life. Throughout the years, EGPAF has ensured that all children in contact with our programs have access to effective HIV prevention, care and treatment.

We have expanded and improved child health services to ensure active treatment of children suffering from opportunistic infections. EGPAF has implemented ‘Ariel Clubs’ in Uganda, wherein all children diagnosed with HIV are invited to participate in a camp-style group. The children are given the chance to connect with other children living with HIV. These club activities have been shown to mitigate the issues of stigma and discrimination around HIV and AIDS, giving children the psychosocial support they need.

On October 27 and 28, 2015, EGPAF will join partners at the National Forum on the State of the Ugandan Child. EGPAF will share two posters at the event. One of the posters, entitled Accelerating Pediatric Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Enrollment in Southwest Uganda, will focus on the scale-up of pediatric HIV services, including ART. The second poster, Improving Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) in Southwest Uganda will focus on EGPAF’s efforts to strengthen the health system along the PMTCT care and treatment cascade, focusing on EID.

EGPAF is honored to have the opportunity to attend and participate in the National Forum on the State of the Ugandan Child, to learn from partners and donors, and to present the lessons from EGPAF’s work with Uganda – sustaining gains in pediatric HIV care and treatment.

We look forward to a generation free of HIV in Uganda and believe that this event will bring us closer to that goal.

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