No Protocol for HIV-Positive Children in Early Childhood Ed

No National Protocol for Removal of HIV-Positive Children from Early Childhood Education

Monday, May 14, 201

There is no national protocol stating that a child with HIV or AIDS should be excluded or denied access to early education for any amount of time, national early childhood network ChildForum says.

HIV is not listed in the early childhood service licensing regulations and criteria as a disease or condition for which a child should be excluded, ChildForum’s National Co-ordinator Sarah Farquhar says.

“Ignorance and very little understanding of HIV or AIDS can lead to anxiety and fear about the transmission of the virus.

“The fact that HIV is now less common means that when adults come in contact with a child who has HIV or AIDS they may have limited understanding and knowledge of it,” Dr Farquhar says.  

Decisions may be made about contact with the child and about the child’s care that are wrong for the child, hurtful for the child’s family, and damaging for the reputation of the early childhood service, she says.

Early childhood services should seek to avoid what happened at the Northland childcare centre earlier this month after it reportedly sent home an HIV-positive child until it had worked out a care plan, Dr Farquhar says.

Whether or not it is known if any child (or teacher for that matter) has HIV or AIDS all early childhood services should in any case have a good standard of infection control in place, Dr Farquhar says.

“There may be some activities that a child with low immunity should not participate in and this should be discussed and decided upon with the child’s family.”

Otherwise, the child with HIV/AIDS should not be restricted from participating in any activity and should have the same freedom of movement like any other child

A child with HIV or AIDS is no risk to other children and adults and is no different from any other child whose basic needs are for love and respect, and to be cared for within a safe environment. 

ChildForum recommends that by following simple guidelines, ECE services can have confidence in accepting children with conditions such as HIV while maintaining safety, Dr Farquhar says.

For a useful set of guidelines, please visit our website http://www.ChildForum.com.

ENDS

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