A patient displays HIV/AIDS drugs | Credit | MSF

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched a new health project in Juba to provide HIV services to orphaned and vulnerable children in a bid to lower the rate of transmission.

The initiative christened as Hayatna – an Arabic word for ‘our lives’ – was inaugurated by the U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan Michael J. Adler and USAID Mission Director Kate Crawford, in Juba.

The five-year project will offer medical services to orphans and vulnerable children living with HIV in addition to delivering income-generating and life skills to economically vulnerable young women.

Ambassador Adler said that the provision of assistance has been at the center of his country’s decades-long efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the South Sudanese people.

He commended the US development agency and implementing partners for their life-saving work.

The Hayatna project will work in partnership with local organizations to support children and adolescents living with HIV, HIV-exposed infants, children of HIV-positive caregivers and mothers, and survivors of violence against children.

The program’s goal is to improve health outcomes by mitigating the spread of HIV among vulnerable families and keep vulnerable children healthy, safe, and schooled.

In a statement, the US Embassy in South Sudan said the initiative will provide adolescent girls and young women with economic opportunities and support localization and capacity-building.

The Hayatna project will be implemented in Juba County, targeting Juba, Kator, Lokiliri, Munuki, and Rejaf – complimenting other successful US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in South Sudan.

Such program has been combating the spread of HIV, providing life-saving antiretroviral treatment to some 50,000 South Sudanese, and supporting vulnerable families and young women, since 2007.

HIV remains a major global public health issue, having claimed 40.4 million lives so far with ongoing transmission in all countries globally, while some countries report increasing trends in new infections.

In 2022, South Sudan’s Health Minister Yolanda Awel announced that an estimated 173,000 people were living with HIV in South Sudan – an increase in new HIV/AIDS infections compared to 2021.

The Chairperson of South Sudan HIV/AIDS Commission said in 2021, the country had achieved little in suppressing HIV transmission, although she stated that public knowledge of the virus has improved, and the level of stigma has reduced.

There is no cure for HIV infection, but with effective prevention, diagnosis and treatment, it has become a manageable chronic health condition, enabling people living with HIV to lead long and healthy lives.