Gran sees Aids ravage family

Jenina Kasanegwe, a 54-year-old grandmother, is worried her grandson is HIV positive.

Jenina lost her husband to Aids in 1997. She had not known about the illness at the time, but later learned her husband had had typical symptoms of the condition, boils and a rash across his body.

He was weak and he suffered frequently from malaria attacks. Jenina does not know how her husband became infected.

Jenina has nine grandchildren and her eldest son Nicholas, a 38-year-old soldier, found out he was HIV positive after going for a test in 2002.

Jenina says: "He is in the army and he told me he has slept with many women without protection. I am now worried his four-year-old son is HIV positive.

He catches illnesses easily, he loses his appetite and his skin is peeling. He hasn't had a test yet, but I suspect he was born when both the parents were sick and he has become infected.

Jenina HIV positive herself, works as a counsellor, urging others to go for testing.

Girl watched mum slowly die of Aids

Diana Muhumuza, 14, has been orphaned by Aids and is looked after by her 27-year-old sister.

Diana's father died of Aids in 1997.

Shortly after Diana's father died her mother tested positive for HIV and she died of Aids in 2002, leaving Diana an orphan at the age of 12.

Diana, who is the youngest of six sisters, says she and her siblings are all healthy.

"My mother was sick for five or six years. She suffered a good deal.

"I had to look after her when she was dying - fetching medicine for headaches and malaria," Diana explains.

"I was afraid to see what she was going through. I miss my parents all the time."

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Test calls

Government posters on roadside billboards in Uganda encourage expectant mothers to take a test, and if they are HIV positive to ensure they safeguard against infecting their baby.

The chance of a baby being infected if their mother is HIV positive is about 30pc.

The chance of infection if mother and baby are treated with nevirapine drugs, which are free and readily available, and there is no breast feeding, is between 10pc and 15pc.

The number of Ugandan children who are HIV positive is thought to be about 84,000.

But there are few counselling and testing services available for children in Uganda and some estimates put the figure as high as 150,000.