The Friends Unit

Advance # 982168

About the Friends Unit

At UMC Health and Maternity Center, Kissy, the coordinators of the Friends Unit, the optimistic name of the HIV/AIDS outreach and care program at the Center, are diligently working to combat the health threat, social stigma, and spread of the disease in Freetown and Sierra Leone.

The Friends Unit began in 2001, and has since served more than 1,300 patients living with HIV/AIDS. Today, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Sierra Leone is increasing, as is the demand for the services and Christian compassion offered by the Friends Unit at Kissy Center.

Led by Ernest Jusu the Friends Unit offers a range of services, including HIV testing, counseling, home-based care, antiretroviral medicines, and livelihood programs for HIV/AIDS patients and their families. The patients receive assistance from the Friends Unit knowing that their status will remain confidential, since so many people with HIV/AIDS are shunned from their families and neighborhoods.

Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission

In 2004 Mr. Jusu and his team initiated a Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) program for HIV-positive pregnant women. The PMTCT program offers support to the expectant mothers and provides critical drugs that prevent the virus from spreading to the baby during childbirth. In two years, 8,000 women and children at Kissy Center have benefited from this program.
 

Community Education

The Friends Unit also works to educate and prevent the spread of the disease throughout Sierra Leone through school presentations, public radio announcements, and working with local United Methodist Churches to educate church members on HIV/AIDS.