Every Child Deserves a Chance: Stories of Hope in Pediatric HIV Care
- hivtoolkit
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Across Benue State in Nigeria, vulnerable children are being reached through community-led interventions that are saving lives. From infants to adolescents, these stories remind us of the critical and urgent importance of linking children with HIV to the care they deserve.
Jane’s Story: The Beginning of Hope
When three-month-old Jane Doe was brought to the Comprehensive Health Center in Gboko, Nigeria, she had no caregiver, no permanent home, and no documentation - only the knowledge that her mother was HIV-positive. Her arrival quickly mobilized health care workers and social welfare teams. Clinicians immediately began HIV preventive prophylaxis, following Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) guidelines, and initiated early infant diagnosis (EID) to determine her HIV status. Nutrition specialists assessed her growth and provided formula support, while the social welfare office worked to secure temporary shelter and begin the process of birth registration: an essential step for her continued access to care.
This case highlights both the fragility and resilience built into pediatric HIV response systems. While gaps in documentation and administrative delays initially slowed her enrollment in the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program, community members, mentor mothers, and an AHD Champion quickly rallied to ensure she was protected and monitored. Their coordinated response, spanning medical, social, and legal sectors, illustrates how swift access to HIV prevention and holistic child protection can save lives.
The Girl Who Couldn’t Wait: A Community’s Lifesaving Response to Advanced HIV Disease
In Gboko, a 14-year-old girl lay gravely ill at home as her single mother was unable to afford the transport or medical fees needed to take her to a clinic. When Kuha Iorliam, an AHD Champion under the THRIVE Project, learned of her situation, he was determined to make sure the girl received help. He returned to the Comprehensive Health Centre and shared her story with healthcare workers and neighbors. Within hours, the community rallied, raising ₦10,000 (about US$7) to bring her to the facility.
At the facility, this adolescent was screened, diagnosed with AHD, and admitted for treatment and care. Her recovery was enabled by the swift response of the community. Though her story is a testament to the ability of communities to mobilize resources, it also is a reminder of the need to appropriately resource community-led HIV programming so that others are also able to be linked to the same lifesaving care.
Blessing’s Story: Listening to the Silence
At just 14 years old, Blessing (name changed) became a mother through the PMTCT program at FMC Makurdi. With a newborn, no family support, and no money to cover her hospital bills, she was unsure of what to do next. During a routine postnatal follow-up visit, a THRIVE Community Facilitator sensed something deeper behind her silence and learned she was planning to abandon her baby and run away.
A THRIVE AHD Champion, CAB member, and AFROCAB Country Lead stepped in immediately, paying her hospital bills, providing baby clothes and food, and enrolling her in health insurance. They also offered empathy, connection, and continued support. Blessing is now being linked to a mentor mother and peer support group, proven strategies to ensure she and her child remain connected to care. Her story underscores that saving a life often means going beyond clinical intervention to meet emotional and social needs.
No Child Left Behind: Linking Every Life to Care
Jane Doe, the 14-year-old girl from Gboko, and Blessing each represent a different face of pediatric HIV in Nigeria, but their journeys all show that the pathway to saving lives begins with timely linkage to treatment, community involvement, and sustained care. Whether through emergency prophylaxis, grassroots fundraising, or compassionate follow-up, these moments of intervention reveal what’s possible when health systems and communities work hand in hand.
As funding cuts threaten progress made in preventing pediatric HIV cases, and resources for AHD programs are more constrained, these stories remind us why projects like THRIVE, which centers local leadership and community-driven solutions to reach people living with AHD are essential. The Unitaid-funded THRIVE Project, led by CHAI in partnership with AFROCAB and Penta, is enabling access to critical prevention, screening, and treatment commodities for advanced HIV disease to dramatically reduce mortality among adults and children living with HIV. AFROCAB’s engagement at the community level is especially critical in identifying those who most need to be linked to care and that no one, and no child, is left behind.
Through the generous support of Unitaid, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI)-led THRIVE Project is enabling access to critical prevention, screening, and treatment commodities for advanced HIV disease to dramatically reduce mortality among adults and children living with HIV. The THRIVE project is conducted in partnership with Afrocab and Penta.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of CHAI and AFROCAB and do not necessarily reflect those of Unitaid or other partners.
