……… I had just finished with the first patient of the day: A man and his wife who had just started on ARVs. I gave them a 2 week course and asked them to come after the two weeks.. The next patient was a beautiful bubbly 8 year old girl brought in by her uncle. She was all smiles and extended her hand to greet me .
I went on to fill her prescription as I was chatting with her on how she takes her medication. I was actually impressed because she not only knew the number of pills to take but also the exact time to take the medication. Apart from the normal ARVs and Septrin she was to be put on Isoniazid preventive therapy(Used to prevent TB) .. I remember packing her a bag full of drugs to last her 1 month. All this while she looked at me.. Quite keenly then out of nowhere she asked ‘daktari sasa nikimaliza hizi dawa zote si nitakuwa nimepona na sitarudi kuzikunywa tena?’. I froze for a second… Multiple questions crisscrossed my mind.. ‘she does not know her disease? How do I tell this sweet baby that she will take these drugs for as long as she lives?How do I look into those hope filled beautiful eyes and tell her the truth? Will she even understand? My eyes filled up with tears and before they could drop, I mumbled to my colleague’ Aloli kuja umalizie hapa siskii vizuri ‘… I ran out and cried my heart out in the washroom.. When I regained my composure and went back, Nyaramba (Not her real name) had already left. Her innocent face has since not left my mind..
Today, I want to talk to you… Yes, you who may be HIV positive or negative. You who refuses to go to the HIV tests to know your status. The pregnant lady who refuses to go for antenatal and ends up getting a baby who is HIV positive. I want to talk to the spouses, girlfriends or lovers who refuse to get tested.. Who spread the virus knowingly or unknowingly. Do you sometimes sit and think of the consequences of your actions? Do you know how hard it is to explain to a child that they inherited HIV from their parents?
Get Started Today. Let’s all prevent Mother To Child Infections. The early The Better.
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