GOOD NUTRTION AND CARE IS VITAL TO IMPROVING A CHILDS' HEALTH - THE STORY OF BABY SYDNEY

Baby Sydney with Violet, his caregiver

 ​​Despite the many interventions to prevent mothers transmitting the HIV virus to their babies, pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV continue to fall out of care. This is especially true in sub-Saharan Africa, where new HIV infections among children are still prevalent.  According to UNAIDS, 150,000 children were infected with HIV in 2019, and almost 90% of these live in sub-Saharan Africa. Factors like poverty, poor health care systems, cultural practices, and poor adherence to treatment contribute to new HIV infections, especially among children from vulnerable households.  Six-month-old Sydney Chala is a beneficiary of TTF's palliative care and nutrition support programs.

​Little Sydney has defied the odds, from being exposed to HIV, being malnourished, experiencing the worst form of stigma and discrimination, to losing his parents and his home.

​Having lost his father even before he was born, Sydney and his mother first came to TTF when he was barely three months old. They were identified in the community by one of TTF's community health workers. His mother was very ill and extremely malnourished. She had stopped taking her ARV medication for over three years. Due to her condition, she was not able to breastfeed Sydney properly, and he too became severely malnourished.
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