Stepping Up Against COVID-19
May 5th is #GivingTuesdayNow – a global day of giving and unity in response to the unprecedented challenges the world is facing due to COVID-19.
EGPAF workers are at the front lines in 19 countries, working to protect people living with HIV in spite of the challenges the coronavirus brings.
These are some of their stories.
We hope you will join us and consider making a gift to help support their lifesaving work, making sure that children, families, and youth have the medications and support they need.
Even in challenging times, our fight for an AIDS-free generation must continue!
Ebola Prepared Us for COVID-19
COVID-19 has rapidly changed the routines of frontline health workers around the world. This is the story of Dina Kesiime, a nurse working on the Uganda/DRC border.
On a normal day, Nurse Midwife Dina Kesiime spends her time counseling and managing pregnant women and lactating mothers to ensure that their children will be HIV-free.
These days she is also focused on COVID-19 screening. Dina is the in-charge of a state-of-the-art infectious treatment unit built through a partnership of the Uganda Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to Ebola. The Ebola Treatment Unit has now been designated the COVID-19 Treatment Unit.
Nothing is left to chance.
The COVID-19 team dresses in full protective gear during their screening procedures. “We are very serious, and every step is carefully taken to protect everyone,” Dina says.
Dina and her staff know that they need to keep themselves healthy so that they can continue to serve their community.
“It is not easy. We worry [about ourselves], too,” says Dina.
“One day I started feeling feverish, and I imagined, ‘Oh God, have I become sick?’ But I wasn’t.”
When Uganda Shuts Down for COVID-19, Expert Clients Step Up
COVID-19 has rapidly changed the routines of frontline health workers around the world. This is the story of an HIV counselor working in southwest Uganda.
Eunice Kabagambe works as a counselor at Kambuga Hospital, where she supports HIV services. Eunice is not a novice in the fight against pandemics; she has been living with HIV for 20 years and has raised 15 children orphaned by the HIV pandemic.
Eunice and her colleagues were very concerned when they heard about COVID-19—for the community at large, but especially for her clients living with HIV. “The hospital’s in-charge quickly brought the team together to discuss preventive steps and also provided the team with protective gear,” says Eunice.
“We put in place standard procedures, including hand washing and social distancing. We shifted our counseling station out of the facility to an open area.”
On April 8, the Ugandan government imposed movement restrictions, halting travel by buses or motorcycle taxis. Many pregnant mothers and children would have to walk long distances to refill their prescriptions at health centers.
Eunice and her colleagues reviewed their client list and grouped antiretroviral drug refill dates so that clients can pick up for several months at one time. For clients who fail to access the clinic, health workers arrange to have their drugs delivered in the community.
Expert clients are individuals living with HIV who have been trained to counsel, educate, and provide peer psychosocial support to other people living with HIV and link them to care. “The expert clients have helped us in raising awareness about COVID-19 prevention and inform us about what people are saying in the community,” says Eunice. “Some people are worried about COVID-19. Others don’t believe it is real. So the expert clients educate their clients and neighbors, both by phone and from a safe physical distance when they are going home.”
“It’s hard, but we are continuing to sensitize our communities so that we all understand that this COVID-19 is an attack on the human race and is not a [rumor]. We have to change behavior together.”
“I Put Myself In My Clients’ Shoes.”
Merinah Komuhangi is too modest to tell people how good she is at her job as the senior clinical officer of an antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinic in southwest Uganda.
The hospital is supported by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) through USAID RHITES-SW project.
According to Merinah, the COVID-19 pandemic has put the ART clinic in the spotlight because of tuberculosis (TB). TB is the leading cause of death for people living with HIV, so the ART clinic links people with symptoms of TB to testing and treatment.
Because some of the symptoms of COVID-19 and TB are similar (coughing and fever), stigma for people coming to the ART clinic has been heightened, which raises concerns for Merinah.
“Our clients are already struggling with the risk of HIV/ TB coinfection, so we don’t want them to miss necessary drugs for either,” says Merinah. “We are afraid of COVID-19, but we can’t forget TB. If we do, it will be worse.”
Merinah and the other health workers are determined to fight on behalf of their clients.
“The team takes time to review ART files and get the peers to call those clients who missed their appointments or unable to come to the clinic, those who are far are directed to facilities close to their homes. The health workers also at the end of their shift divide the multi-month drug packs for refills and drop off medicines for patients in their neighborhoods. Our goal is to have clients retained on treatment and maintain viral suppression for the clients to be healthy.” Clients are also educated about COVID-19 and how to keep safe.
“I love my work, and usually I put myself in my client’s shoes,” says Merinah. They have a chronic illness and they walk many, many miles sometimes to get here.
“Merinah is a favorite,” says Peter Ngambaneiwe, a youth peer volunteer. “She treats us as equals. And she knows all of our (more than 200) children by name—where they come from, and what school they are in. She never lets a client drop off their HIV treatment.”
Peer Counselors Help Children and Adolescents Get Medicine and Encouragement During Quarantine
COVID-19 has rapidly changed the routines of frontline health workers around the world.
Peter Ngambenawe and Ismail Harerimana are youth peer counselors at Kabale Regional Referral Hospital in southwest Uganda. They help link children and adolescents living with HIV to treatment and provide psychosocial support, making sure that they adhere to treatment.
“Peter and I grew up in this very community,” says Ismail. “We got treatment as children here and were in the Ariel Clubs supported by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) and USAID. “Now we are peer leaders. The young people we work with are our friends and colleagues.”
“At the beginning of the epidemic, we worried about how we would make deliveries, and at first we took some refills to some of the children who live far away,” says Peter. When the government halted such deliveries in order to reduce social contact and reduce the spread of the coronavirus, the counselors began working remotely.
Peers began helping to facilitate pick up or delivery of medication according to coronavirus safety regulations. “We are giving multi-month drug refills to keep clients safe,” Ismail continues.
The children and youth Peter and Ismail worry about most are those who are in the farthest areas. “For those [individuals], we locate the closest facility, call ahead, and connect the client to get their medication. And we [keep track of] them until we ensure they have received care and are back home,” says Ismail.
Peter says that confidentiality remains important during this process. Adolescents and children living with HIV have a right to privacy regarding their HIV status, so it is important to be careful about establishing delivery. “It’s not only about medicine,” says Ismail.
“This is a mental health thing. Our friends are anxious that they will be the first to be affected by COVID-19. So we are using a lot of social media to keep ourselves and our peers encouraged and up-to-date with COVID prevention.”
Uganda
General
