Policy on HIV-testing for children being formulated

The Ugandan government is reviewing its policy on HIV-voluntary counselling and testing for children following recommendations by experts that a child's sero-status should only be disclosed by a person with whom the child feels most comfortable. Currently, a Ugandan below the age of 18 years is legally a child. The existing policy is that a child cannot be tested for HIV without the consent of a parent or guardian. However, officials say the reality is that many children who lack parental support begin sexual activity early or have been caught up in war-situations and became infected. "Children in special circumstances have to be dealt with according to the prevailing situation - like children in conflict situations, children heading families and child mothers or wives," the experts recommended. They also said that the policy should take disabled children into consideration. "The policy has to consider that counselling of children with disabilities should be conducted in a setting that takes into consideration their specific disability, for example, deaf children. We need to get counsellors who know sign language," Elizabeth Madra, one of the experts, told IRIN. She added that the low cadreship of counsellors also needed to be taken into account, as these were critical in scaling up effective HIV counselling and testing services. The United Nations Children's Agency (UNICEF) country representative in Uganda, Martin Mogwanja, told the workshop that there was need to analyse the situation so that young people could access care and treatment. "Children between the ages of 12 and 17 may sometimes be socially and psychologically mature enough to seek health care for themselves," Mogwanja said. "They may not be comfortable, or even wish to have their parent, guardian or teacher know their HIV status." "There will also be a situation where exemptions may have to be made regarding the age of consent for HIV testing," Mogwanja added. "This includes formally abducted children, child mothers and children who have been raped or defiled." Uganda has won acclaim in the world for its aggressive anti-AIDS campaign that has paid off by reducing infection rates from 30 percent in the 1990s to about 6 percent presently. An estimated one million people are believed to be carrying the virus that causes the diseas; 10 percent of them are children. A million people have died of the disease since it was first diagnosed 22 years ago.