By Trudy Simpson, Staff ReporterTHE FAMILY of a 13-year-old boy, who allegedly contracted HIV while under public hospital care, six years ago, is expected to receive "a compassionate grant" of $15,000 today.
This follows an appeal from Robert Carr, executive director of Jamaica AIDS Support (JAS), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which offers care and support to HIV-infected and affected persons. Mr. Carr, moved by the financial woes of the boy's family, yesterday urged Government to give at least $15,000 per month to the family.
SPECIALISED HOSPITAL CARE
The Ministry of Health said yesterday it had instructed the National AIDS Committee (NAC) to give the grant, that more money may be forthcoming if the need arises, and that hospitals will continue to give the boy specialised care.
This is in addition to existing anti-retroviral (HIV-fighting) drugs and other medication, while court proceedings continue in a lawsuit, filed by lawyers for the boy and a young woman against the Health Ministry, the National Blood Transfusion Service (Blood Bank), the Kingston Public Hospital and the Bustamante Hospital for Children.
The Attorney-General, representing the Ministry of Health, has not accepted liability in the boy's case, based on the negative results from tests carried out on donors who gave blood during the period he became infected.
WELCOMES ASSISTANCE
When contacted for comment, the boy's mother said she was not aware of the grant but would welcome the help. "It would help me to feel a lot better and help me to give more things and feed him better," she said.
'Mrs. Richards' (the name used publicly by the boy's mother) lamented that the family's economic woes have worsened since gunmen held up and robbed 'Michael's' (the named used by her son) father shortly after he was paid last week.
She said she could fill her son's prescriptions and put food in her cupboards on the weekend, because she received help from her attorney, Antonnette Haughton-Cardenas.
She said that some family members spent Wednesday night into Friday morning at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), because Michael had an emergency and they did not have money to return home after being brought there in an ambulance. The Ministry said it would investigate the circumstances surrounding the issue.
