UNICEF action
UNICEF works to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and provide care for children and young people affected by the virus. We have supported the government in introducing life skills and HIV/AIDS education into the national school curriculum and have assisted in training peer-to-peer educators. UNICEF also supports the government’s nationwide programme to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. At the community level, UNICEF tries to bring together key players to identify needs and plan interventions, including housing and care for orphans, home visits, psychosocial support and stigma reduction. We are helping to widen access to information, skills and services by supporting the work of community groups. At the same time, networks of young people are designing further ways to communicate HIV messages to their peers as part of the "Right to Know" project. We also work with religious leaders of all faiths to offer psychosocial support and treatment to those affected by HIV/AIDS and to reduce stigma in communities. Since nearly every village has a temple or mosque and people are used to confiding in their clergy, many who had previously felt unable to discuss HIV/AIDS or reveal their HIV status have been able to access counselling and treatment through local religious figures.
At the same time, clerics of all faiths are highly revered. Their moral authority means that they can help reduce social discrimination against those infected by HIV/AIDS and also encourage safer sexual and other practices. Another vital UNICEF intervention is to support access to anti-retroviral treatment for children infected by HIV and their parents. This is often more difficult than just making sure that medicines are on the shelves and freely available in hospitals. For children who are living with elderly grandparents or whose parents are sick, hospitals are sometimes inaccessible because the child’s caregiver is not strong enough to make the journey or cannot afford the cost of transport and/or time missed from work. At the same time, anti-retroviral regimens are very complicated, with patients needing to take a number of medicines in the right doses at the right times to avoid developing resistance (and therefore the need for much more expensive imported medicines). In response, UNICEF funds Srinakarin Hospital in Khon Kaen province in taking ARVs to children in local communities and supports the work of the AIDS Access Foundation, a Chiang Rai-based NGO, which provides watches and counselling to children so that they can time their own doses. UNICEF also responds to discrimination by giving a voice to HIV-positive children. For example, UNICEF supports the "Paint My Life" project, which is run by the NGO We Understand Group and showcases the art and writing of children living with HIV/AIDS. Through exhibitions and books, children are able to explain how they feel and the kind of experiences they have to face. Their stories and paintings are powerful. They inspire compassion, give a human face to the epidemic and also demonstrate the considerable talent of these children, who may be ill but still have as much to contribute to society as anyone else.
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