In Argentina, HIV-positive children often live in extreme poverty. Many are underweight, malnourished, and in great need of medical care and emotional support.

To provide assistance to children with HIV and their families, Fundación Infectológica para la Niñez y la Adolescencia (FINA) was created in 1992. The organization’s efforts are designed to:

• Decrease the mortality rate of youth living with HIV/AIDS
• Promote the human rights of HIV-positive children by providing access to health care and social education services
• Provide proper training to health professionals and caregivers in order to improve the quality of life of patients and their families
• Improve nutritional education among those living below the poverty line
• Support the ongoing development of children

Since 2008, Johnson & Johnson has provided grants to support FINA’s work. Programs have been especially effective at Hospital Muñiz, one of Argentina’s most important public hospitals specializing in infectious diseases. Through FINA’s initiatives, more than 260 children at the hospital have received much-needed support. For example, from September 2009 to February 2010, FINA provided more than 100 nutritional meals to patients, along with nutritional training for nurses and parents.

Outside the hospital, FINA conducts home visits to children living in vulnerable high-risk situations, carries out educational programs in the community, and teaches mothers and children about the importance of adherence to treatment.

“Because of FINA’s work, more children are receiving the care they need, and more mothers are learning how to prevent transmission of HIV to their children,” says Rick Martinez, M.D., Director, Johnson & Johnson Corporate Contributions, Latin America. “The impact has been great in the medical community too. Through its training programs, FINA has helped establish a network of experts in Argentina in the prevention, treatment and care of infant infectious diseases.”