DAD LIVID AFTER GIRL (15) GIVEN HIV TESTING KIT

MANZINI – A parent was livid when he discovered that his 15-year-old daughter had taken an oral HIV test without his consent.

The parent said this happened last week when he found the used kit at his home in Nhlangano. The father said the child alleged that Medicins San Frontiers (MSF) Doctors Without Borders Nhlangano branch, had given them the HIV test kit.  

According to the parent, although his daughter was a minor and still under his guardianship, he was not agitated by the fact that she took an HIV test but by that he was not involved by the organisation. *Sipho said he believed that the child needed a support system at home regardless of the results.

What infuriated the parent even more was that the pupil was not given the testing kit while at school but outside the premises which, according to him, left the child on her own to decide whether to take the test or not without considering the  consequences.
“Accepting the results of an HIV test is cumbersome for an adult, how much more for a minor. The children need a good support system from their families whether the results are good or bad,” said Sipho.
By this, Sipho said when the results were good, it was pertinent for a parent to explain what it meant to be HIV negative and also encourage them to abstain from activities that may expose them to the virus.
On the other hand, the parent said when the results were positive, it was also vital for children to get advice and guidance from their families to help them deal with the situation.

In addition, the parent was concerned with that should the results not favour the child, it was highly possible for them to opt for ways to end their lives due to that they did not have immediate support from their families. “I went to lodge a complaint to the MSF branch in Nhlangano but instead of being enlightened on how the organisation came about this exercise, I was patronised by the assistants,” Sipho added.

He alleged that the female employees he found there said national guidelines regarding HIV testing stipulated that children as young as 12 years old were legible to consent for HIV testing and counselling.
This then brought the parent to deduce that the organisation was more concerned with high figures of people who participated in its programme than the repercussions that come with the exercise.
Also, he said he was challenging the law that permitted minors to make their own decisions pertaining to sensitive health issues like this one.

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