Organization: Kenyatta National Hospital
Region: Africa
Nationality: Kenya
Country: Kenya
Interests & expertise: Co-morbidities (NCDs, mental health, etc.)
Profession or occupation: Healthcare worker
What inspires you to work in the HIV field?
I was a final-year medical student when prevention of vertical transmission of HIV became a reality. That women with HIV could now have children free of HIV was nothing short of a miracle! The relief and gratitude on my patients’ faces at the 18-month clinic visit when we declared their babies HIV negative inspired me to want the same for the women whose babies were not as lucky, so that they would still be healthy despite having HIV.
In practice, I realize that although the tools to make this possible are available, health-related quality of life among children living with HIV remains limited. This motivates me to engage in implementation-science research to try to bridge the “know-do gap”, identifying optimal strategies that allow for delivery of life-saving interventions to these children and adolescents. It gives me hope that they too, one day, will have the same look of gratitude as they raise an AIDS-free generation.
What are your goals as an IAS change maker?
I want to contribute towards leaving no child behind in the response to HIV, so that they all get the interventions they need in a timely, person-centred manner with the hope that this will give them a fighting chance to grow into healthy adults living life to the fullest.