With the indiscriminate spread of Covid-19 globally, many populations are experiencing negative consequences such as job loss, food insecurity, and inability to manage existing medical conditions and maintain preventive measures such as social distancing and personal preventive equipment.
Some of the most disadvantaged in the Covid-19 era are people living with HIV/AIDS and other autoimmune diseases.
Richard Aliwali, the Chairperson for Persons Living with HIV in Mukono District, says that more than 80 families on antiretroviral therapy have been hit hard by the current lockdown.
And more than 8,000 people are on antiretroviral therapy in the entire district. Lack of food brings in stress and the failure by the children to adhere to the drugs may result in drug resistance.
And apart from missing the drugs in this lockdown, many people have been segregating them reaching to the extent of not wanting their children and children themselves to associate with children living with HIV, which brought more torture among themselves.
For this reason, Mukono journalists led by David Musisi Kalyankolo, decided to mobilize and donate some food stuff to the young ones who are living with HIV /AIDS and their caretakers so that they can take their drugs in time.
The donated items include sugar, maize flour, soap, porridge, rice and salt among others.
Kalyankolo says that after covering some stories in Buikwe District where he found out that children were taking ARVs on empty stomachs, he decided to lend a hand with the help of his colleagues.
Crispus Galabuzi, a young boy who is HIV positive, says that they have been getting difficulties in taking the ARVs since it requires a person to first eat before taking it, which had become a problem to him since getting food had been a tag of war to his parents. He said they would sometimes miss meals due to lack of food.
He emphasised the importance of ART patients eating something before taking drugs.
Harriet Nankya, one of the guardians, said that after the president declared a total lockdown, many people lost their jobs. She said they had to sit at home without any help yet the children they were looking after had to eat.
She added that the children under her care have often skipped treatment due to the food crisis. She said that she is aware of the implications of skipping treatment but that the children could not continue with treatment on empty stomachs.
“Apart from lack of food, several patients are struggling to access Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) at various healthy facilities due to the ban on public transport,” Ms Nankya said.
According to the UNICEF report of Children, Adolescent and Young Women living with HIV in the time of Covid-19 Worldwide, out of 37.9 million people living with HIV, 1.4 million are pregnant women and 2.8 million are children and adolescents. Among them, about 20 percent of pregnant women and close to 50 percent of children and adolescents are not on HIV treatment.
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