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The Residential Care Unit of Anandaghar started with Joy, the singly found neonatal baby without parental identity. By 2008 number of residents in Anandaghar has grown up to thirty-five ranging age group of three to thirteen years. All the children are innocent victims as the deadly virus were transmitted into body by birth. Children admitted here are either parentless or without least parental support for parents' health status coupled with economic inability. Project Anandaghar aims at intriguing Residential Care Unit with special Hospital for short and long-term treatment for HIV infected children. The already existent Residential Care Unit focuses on improvement of health status of the children. The preventive and curative health strategy for the children who are striving hard just to prolong their span of lives through creating enabling environment supported with well planned diet, improved lifestyle, apt and regular medication and overall supervision of HIV specialist pediatric Doctors. To create a right psychological environ children are looked after by a team of young and trained caregivers.
Warm relationship between children and the caregivers ensures individual care of each child. Within a basic disciplined life, which is more needed simply to better the already damaged health status, children are given space as far as possible. Living in a proximity to the nature and natural beauty of the area, children listen and learn music, dance, theatre to spread their wings of creativity and imagination, to develop them with personality of future. Sports and games are also part of their daily life. Myths and misconceptions leading to stigmatization did not spare innocence of childhood for our children as well. At certain point of time children of Anandaghar were denied of admission by the formal schools despite having legal support of the State. Continuous networking and development of relationship with local stakeholders realized the dream of children having formal school education without closing their cero positing status. All the children of Anandaghar are now attending formal school. It is our pride and happiness to note that children are performing well in the field of education in spite of their continuous fight with the infections resulting loss of physical and mental energy. Training, orientation and motivational program for personnel involved in the project is integral part of the curriculum for better equipping the personnel involved in the project to create a better understanding and apt execution towards the objective. A renewed network with right organization for the ART and clinical services and social support is also strength for the Residential Care Unit. Within one or two years the Residential Care Unit is going to face a fresh challenge. With children growing up towards adolescence they are also starting to feel the looming face of decay by virtue of their HIV positive status even though they do not see it really because of the external support and surrounding elements of joy in their day to day life. The Residential Care Unit takes up the issue very seriously. Juxtaposed to the enhanced psychological support for the growing children the project vows to prolong the span of their life while in India finds cut off life span as thirteen to fourteen years for the children with mother to child HIV transmission.
Another prime factor adds up challenges to the Residential Care Unit of Anandaghar. Till the moment there are another more than hundred children in the waiting list for residential care. They are from surrounding districts of South 24 Pgs. District. Some of them have already lost their parents as well. Being responsible for the children means pulling additional resources for which the Residential Care Unit has already stepped up initiatives. Referral network has been established for ART and other social and clinical services with appropriate institutes and organizations.
Future Plan: The Hospital
The Residential Care Unit of Anandaghar provides long term care for the cero positive children while from the beginning a Hospital for providing short/medium term medical support for the children were planned. Hospital Unit is partly readied with its own infrastructure of laboratory, imaging section, physiotherapy unit and counseling section. Presently, the hospital can offer its service to 30 children at a stretch including 12 infants with a plan to extend its service to 100 children by the end of year 2009. Added to the short-term residential care facility the hospital looks for providing nutritional support for the children. The hospital will also give, Treatment for the children with opportunistic infection and other bacterial infection. All other health related support including specialized testing like Elisa, Flowcymetry, Real Time PCR and drug resistance. All kind of pathological investigations surgical indoor facilities are available with minor operation theater. Counseling, recreational and play therapy for the children are also available. Outdoor facilities without department, dispensing unit, tele - counseling facility are available at the center. Referral network for ART has strengthened. Support and training services offered to the family members and family case management for coordinating the Provisional Supports. Once fully realized the Hospital Unit will also be unique in its kind since such integrated is still dear in state. The hospital is envisaged as a strong support for the children of Residential Care Unit as well for the children living with HIV with certain degree of parental support. With focused on pediatric HIV issue, the Hospital can also function as a research cell find new low to support children infected with HIV.
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