The Good News II School in Mpulungu, Zambia, decided to offer HIV testing to the students to encourage the children and their guardians to know their status as well as break down some of the stigma surrounding a positive status.
At the end of the last term the OM Good News II School in Mpulungu, Zambia, announced to the students’ guardians that they would be offering HIV testing to all of the students. An OMer with AidsLink training answered questions from the guardians and consent letters were sent home explaining the testing process and requiring a signature from each guardian to grant permission.
Over the course of two days, two community health workers from the Zambian Ministry of Health tested 166 of the school’s 187 students (seven guardians did not give permission and the remaining students were absent). In every class the students were educated on the prevention, symptoms and treatment of HIV before the actual test was administrated with a drop of blood from each child’s finger.
Results were ready just a few minutes later though for the sake of confidentiality, as well as the importance of having the guardians present, any child found to be HIV+ was not informed at school. Instead, the counselors took the student’s contact information and made a home visit to inform the family of the child’s status, do counseling and set them up with ART’s.
One new case was found bringing the total number of HIV+ students in the school to five. A child’s status does not mean they will be treated any differently at school but enables the on-site school clinic to treat them more effectively and a support system to be in place around the child.
A guardian told Head-teacher Laban that they appreciated the school initiating HIV testing for the students. They were encouraged and said that they could see the school cared for the whole child – providing students two meals a day during the week, giving them a good education and caring about their health. The guardian said that the Good News II School was not like the other schools in Mpulungu, to which Head-teacher Laban readily agreed.
Fighting the stigma
In the area around Mpulungu it is estimated that 6.8% of the population is HIV positive though only a quarter of those cases are on ARV, the treatment for HIV. Though HIV is common, people do not have a clear understanding of the virus and there are many stigmas attached to it. Some people believe that HIV can be transmitted through skin-to-skin contact or saliva and believe that HIV is unmanageable. Many people who find out they have HIV keep it a secret for fear of what their community will think of them.
The school decided to offer HIV testing to the students to encourage the children and their guardians to know their status as well as break down some of the stigma surrounding a positive status. Most of the students are single or double orphans and come from broken homes and potentially abusive backgrounds making them vulnerable and at a high risk for testing positive.
Praise God for the opportunity to do HIV testing at the school and for so many negative results! Pray for the student who found out they are HIV+; for clear communication about what this diagnosis means and for support from their family. Pray for the reduction of the stigma that surrounds HIV and for those barriers to be broken down.