COVID-19's affect on HIV+ kids at Cherish & what you can do about it!
Cherish Family,
As people rush for canned goods and fight over toilet paper in the grocery store - are you wondering what you can do to spread kindness and do good during this time of need? We need you now more than ever to come alongside Cherish Health Center to help us prepare for the months to come.
As of right now, there are no recorded cases of COVID-19 in Uganda, but there are cases in neighboring countries (Kenya, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo), so we do want to be prepared for when that will likely change. At Cherish we have an operating health clinic, 40% of our primary school students are HIV positive, 60% of CHS students are HIV positive, and we have over 170 HIV patients on their antiretroviral treatment at Cherish Health Center. We want to be prepared for COVID19 for the general public we serve and especially for those of our HIV patients who have compromised immune systems. We also want to make sure people who are HIV positive and not on treatment become aware of their status and begin treatment.
“I think what we’re going to see is that the young people who have HIV and low CD4 counts will have…death rates similar to what we’re seeing in patients who are 60 years old and 70 years old.” - Salim Abdool Karim is the director of the Durban-based Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa and a global health professor at Columbia University in the United States. Mr. Karim did also say if an HIV positive patient is on antiretrovirals and their viral loads are suppressed (the amount of the HIV virus in their body is low), then they should have similar responses to coronavirus as any HIV negative patient.
Currently at Cherish, we are practicing staff sensitization, community sensitization and we have set up several hand washing stations across Cherish. Cherish Health Center's doctor, Dr. Gavin is using this easy to understand guide to educate staff and the community through community sensitization (our nurses are traveling around to small local health clinics to educate them on the facts about Coronavirus). We have also put new protocols in place in the classroom for social distancing. While we have not heard much from the Uganda's Ministry of Health, we have taken initiative and have been reaching out to them to be up to date on how Uganda is going to respond to COVID-19.
Many of Uganda's hospitals are overwhelmed and under-resourced on any normal day. It is likely that Coronavirus is already in Uganda, but that we don't have the numbers due to a lack of reporting, lack of testing, and the weak healthcare system as a whole. We ask that you pray that God protects Uganda, the children we serve, and Cherish staff (especially the health center team) from extensive spread of the coronavirus, because it would likely take a huge, tragic toll on the country. Since we are located close to the Uganda's only international airport, we want to make sure we take matters into our own hands of protecting our health center staff and equipping them to the best of our ability.
In this time of hysteria, people panic and either show fear or kindness. We hope you can find peace amongst the chaos. We know and understand that many people are stressed about the economy and what the future might hold. Thank you to all of our monthly donors for sticking with us during this period of chaos, and if you're not giving monthly but you wish to, please sign up here. Any donation amount helps in helping us stabilize and prepare for COVID-19.
We predict that we will have added expenses as we take precautions or potentially start seeing Cornonavirus show up in Uganda over the coming weeks and months. Will you please consider making a special donation as we prepare so that we can be proactive in equipping our staff and students?
Sincerely,
Brent Phillips
Cherish Uganda CEO
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hear and your minds in Christ Jesus. ”