AIDS: Children suffer for parents' sins

by Shanika Sriyananda

Let's call her Hiruni. Still a pre-schooler, her only wish was to go home early with her kiri amma (grandmother) who was the only human being who gave her love and care in her tiny world filled with loneliness. No children in the neighbourhood were allowed to play with her.

She was too small to realise the truth of the deadly secret that kiri amma had hidden sometimes. Though kiri amma too lacked knowledge to explain the deadly secret, she knew that if she revealed the truth their lives were in danger and would be stigmatised forever by the villagers, who did not expose much to the city life.

No comforts in life as most of the other children have... no warmth of a woman call 'amma' or no security of a man call thatha, little Hiruni's little world was confined to her grandmother's world. In her 70s, Magi Nona had been compelled to labour herself to meet the day's end to feed the little girl.

Hiruni knew that the young girl in one of the pictures that hung on the wall is her amma. When she asked about amma every time she got the same old answer - "Eya rata maye puthe" (She is abroad darling) from the grandmother. Getting weak day by day but still holding her breath thanks to a special drug, Hiruni always dreamt to see her amma, who would come at anytime with a bag full of dolls.

Yes... the truth was her amma, who came from abroad died three years back when Hiruni was barely a two year-old tot. Just a few days after her arrival with hopes to build her dream house she was admitted to the hospital.

The deadly truth which was revealed after her sudden death and Hiruni's father who knew much about the cause of death disappeared the following day after the alms giving pinkama after the seventh day of her death. The sole responsibility of the little girl was left to old Mahi Nona. Meanwhile, the little girl too was sick regularly and the blood samples sent to Colombo confirmed the deadly secret. Magi Nona was asked to bring the child to Colombo to give her the necessary drugs to prolong her life.

Finally, Hiruni became yet another innocent victim of HIV/AIDS, which still doesn't have a cure. Her mother was infected with the disease long before she gave birth to Hiruni. The little girl was born with a death penalty.

Hiruni is not alone. The mother-to-child cases of HIV/AIDS have increased to 26 from inception upto now. Around the world over 2.3 million children are living with the disease. The story of Hiruni was revealed by Dr. Shantha Hettiarachchi, the Information Education Communication Coordinator of the National HIV/AIDS Prevention Project, but according to him there is no news about the little girl now.

Dr. Hettiarachchi says that she was brought to the STD clinic in Colombo by Magi Nona a year ago but they had not turned up for medication since last year.

So, where is Hiruni and what has happened to Hiruni ?

"We do not know what has happened to her. Maybe she is no more.

These little ones infected with the disease have very short life spans. Their immunity to fight the disease is very low and they die soon", he says.

Little Hiruni may get relief from all pains, which she could not describe. But, the sad part of the story of the children living with HIV virus is that the number is not static or decreasing but it has increased this year.

More than one million children according to recent statistics, in the developing world alone have lost one or both parents to AIDS .

With the disease rampant in many African nations, thousands of children are left alone after the death of their parents. Apart from lost education and other serious effects these children also suffer from social ostracism, from malnutrition and hunger and from psychological deprivation.

Apart from the known recorded figures, the estimated number of children living with the virus in Sri Lanka is over 100. Sri Lanka can boast of a low prevalence rate but it is high time to address the problem which seems to be a tip of the iceberg.

In Sri Lanka with an increasing number of mother-to-child cases, despite programmes and projects for adults HIV/AIDS victims, several questions still remain unanswered about children. Where would these children end up, with no parents to look after then and no relatives to take care of them? Where are these children forced to live? Are we going to cage them until they die depriving them of their innocent joys, education and especially their right to play?

"Are we ready to open orphanages for HIV/AIDS victims ? Or are they allowed to fend for themselves as street beggars ? What are the plans to protect these victims, still in their young age?", questions Dr. Hettiarachchi. Infected with the virus from birth, most of these children do not live long.

But thanks to the antiretroviral drugs some of their lives have been prolonged but there's no guarantee that they would live for years.

According to Dr. Hettiarachchi, the main phenomena for the increase of the paediatric cases is the increase in number of HIV infected women in the country. In the first quarter of this year the number of females infected with HIV/ was 321 but it rose to 328 and 342 in the second and third quarters respectively.

"We cannot give the required protection and care for the normal children who become orphaned, then what about these special children", asks Dr. Hettiarachchi. If the situation here is so, how can we guarantee a good life for these children who are still ostracised by society due to fear of the disease.

And who can think of a beautiful world for these children who are compelled to suffer for no fault of their own. As Dr. Hettiarachchi points out it is the correct time to draw up plans to protect these children, like in Thailand and India.

However, on the other hand the most important step is to educate the women, who are more vulnerable to the disease to prevent the mother-to-child transmission.

Otherwise, more children like Hiruni will suffer, caged and die in a world of misery without help of the society which robbed their lives.

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