1. ABSTRACT
The challenges faced by adolescents with perinatal HIV/AIDS.
By
SUKHOLUHLE TSHUMA
Supervisor : Mrs. N.J. Bila
Department : Social Work and Criminology
Degree : Master of Social Work in Health Care
HIV /AIDS has, over the years, wracked havoc and once threatened humanity out of
existence. With experiments to find treatment of HIV/AIDS, management strategies
being successful over the years, its prevalence had already claimed lives and left
many infected. Parents faced the inevitable agony of giving birth to HIV positive
children who normally would not survive beyond their toddler years. As experiments
continued leading to solution, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was rolled
out in South Africa in the new millennium, (Li et al., 2009: 751, Human Sciences
Research Council, 2005:4). This gave hope to the new generation as the treatment
meant people could live longer with this disease as long as they adhered to
treatment. The study was informed by a concern that these adolescents are
transcending into adulthood and yet are incapacitated and facing many challenges in
dealing with their HIV status
The goal of this study was to investigate challenges faced by adolescents with
perinatally acquired HIV/AIDS. The researcher conducted the study using a
qualitative approach through face-to-face structured interviews with 12 HIV
perinatally infected adolescents from Hammanskraal Jubilee hospital (Wellness
clinic) as participants. A purposive non-probability sampling technique was used to
select the participants in the study.
Findings of this study reveal a range of challenges these adolescents are facing and
experiencing in their everyday life. These challenges include stigma and
discrimination and lack of education and information on perinatally acquired HIV and
HIV/AIDS in general, by the infected adolescents themselves. There is a challenge
of non-disclosure of HIV status to the infected child and pressure to not disclose the
status to significant others. The adolescents are also struggling with issues of

2. compliance and adherence to medication, lack of awareness on available support
systems as well as failure to utilize the systems due to non-disclosure. The study
also indicates that at one time, this disease did affect academic progress, as the
researcher observed that some of the adolescents were in their late teens and yet
still in primary schools. The study concluded that adolescents with perinatally
acquired HIV/AIDS are indeed facing a dilemma in their day to day lives and hence
need support from all sectors.
In light of this study, recommendations included the need for education on the
HIV/AIDS pandemic as well as on perinatally acquired HIV/AIDS. There is also need
to establish supportive services for these adolescents and have platforms where
they can support each other and share experiences. The study also recommends
that there is a greater need for comprehensive education on HIV/AIDS on the
caregivers and school teachers of these adolescents, to empower and equip them to
deal with this unique and demanding age group. Furthermore, the study
recommends anti-stigma awareness in the communities to create a comfortable
interaction between the HIV positive people and the community at large. It is also
recommended that further research must explore the experiences of and challenges
faced by the caregivers and significant others.
KEY WORDS
HIV/AIDS, perinatally acquired HIV/AIDS, support systems, stigma and
discrimination, challenges, education, highly active antiretroviral therapy.