Global Fund and (RED) Provide Hope at Tema General Hospital in Ghana
ONE is embarking on a listening and learning trip to Senegal, Ghana, Mozambique and Kenya with members of our board and other supporters. Christy Turlington Burns checks in:
I met an inspiring woman a few days ago in Accra, Ghana. Her name was Elizabeth*. She is a mother, a widow and she is HIV positive. This may sound pretty grim, but what I learned from spending some time with her is that Elizabeth and her two-year-old daughter Abigail* are getting the care they need here at the Tema General Hospital.
Elizabeth learned about her HIV positive status when she came here to be tested after her husband died a few years ago. She was pregnant at the time, which was actually a blessing, because it enabled her to begin antiretroviral treatment at a critical time for Abigail. Abigail takes a prophylactic drug to prevent infection of the AIDS virus.
I also spent some time with the nurses here who counsel the families who come into the clinic from up to a 15 kilometer radius to be tested. They shared other stories like Elizabeth’s, where women sought them out to be tested and then treated if their results were positive. When mothers have access to ARVs, they use them. And when they use them the chances of vertical transmission (when the virus travels inadvertently from the pregnant mother to her child) are minimal. At Tema, a mere 4% of babies whose mothers have begun treatment test positive. I was told that just a few years ago things were not nearly as hopeful.
Before the Global Fund and (RED) started distributing money to treat and prevent AIDS, there was very little incentive for the poor in Ghana to test because having HIV was a virtual death sentence.
Dr. Patricia Nsamoah, a senior medical officer and HIV focal person at TEMA, told us about the state of the clinic before they received Global Fund (RED) money.
“We’ve been testing HIV for a very long time, but basically people just didn’t know what to do if they tested positive for HIV,” Dr. Nsamoah said. “So when ARVs came, the Global Fund made it possible for us to have access to ARVs. You can at least see a patient, treat opportunistic infections, test for CD4, and at the point when they need the ARVs it is available and you can have a success story. Previously if you were working in the fever unit as the doctor in charge, what you did at the beginning of every morning was to sign death certificates because overnight by the time you came people had just died. But now a lot has changed… I’m telling you the clinic just grows bigger because people do not die.”
Today, Tema serves more than 2,200 people infected with HIV/AIDS in Ghana. These families are thriving and they are hopeful despite all they have endured. Abigail is a beautiful, curious little girl. She is confident with wise eyes that have seen the future.
*Elizabeth and Abigail’s names have been changed to protect their privacy.
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March 17, 2010 at 10:00 pm
This is a much welcomed update from Christy Turlington-Burns regarding her impressions of the current trip to Africa by ONE’s & (RED)’s top echelon. I have been very impressed with Christy’s interest in & concern for the world’s poorest people. She has taken her celebrity and turned it into something good for others. On top of this, she has chosen to immerse herself in the field of Global Health studies at a prestigious U.S. university so that she can speak more authoritatively about poor women’s issues around the world – like those that she heard about at Tema (alongside a familiar face in blue shades in the background of this pic – smile).
Thanks Christy for all that you have decided to do for others less fortunate. You are a welcomed advocate & activist in our midst and we are hono(red) by your presence. ~
ALWAYS FOREVER, ONE – debbie
http://www.mpwn-uganda.org
March 18, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Thank you for this update on the Tema General Hospital. This is encouraging. All of us with HIV+ friends here in Ghana are giving great thanks for the influence and monies brought in by ONE and RED as now ARVs are available almost country-wide in a way that they were not even as recently as 4 years ago. Thank you!
A quick question though– once our HIV+ friends have come to depend on the life-saving drugs, what do we do when the drugs are late in coming or are not available for a while? We are currently facing that problem in Bole in the Northern Region of Ghana where the Nevirapine and Duovir that are so necessary for hundreds of people are not available. They hope that the drugs will be in by tomorrow but already they have been out for at least a week. My Bole hospital contacts say that there is also no Nevirapine in Tamale or Accra. My friend’s supply will finish on Sunday. I am hoping and praying that the next shipment will come in before then, but is there anything else we can do?
Thanks!
Jenny
http://www.gillbt.org
March 24, 2010 at 4:56 pm
As a child advocate myself in the United States, I am well aware of the trials and tribulations of mothers and children who experience life in impoverished circumstances and the terrible pressures and challenges that are poverty’s offspring. And to think that my work focuses on families residing in a wealthy and fully developed nation. The mission of (RED) in the developing world is sobering and ever so critical.
I am truly inspi(red) by Christy’s amazing work in the areas of maternal health and global health. Christy has committed herself fully to this mission. She is bringing wider attention to the health challenges facing mothers and kids all over the globe and , every bit as important, the solutions that we all can become a part of. She is creating hope.
I think that Christy’s upcoming documentary, No Woman, No Cry, to be screened at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival will be a terrific vehicle for much needed public education on these vital issues.
Thank you, Christy and (RED)!! You are making for positive and very real change.
Sara
August 13, 2010 at 9:34 am
nice aritcle.