Medical care for HIV-positive children is very specialised. Furthermore, the way HIV develops in babies and children is different to that in adults, especially because HIV progression can be faster in children. It’s therefore important that your child is looked after at a clinic that has expertise in the care, treatment and support of HIV-positive children.

It’s also important that both you and your child or children are registered with a GP, or family doctor, who will be able to look after your routine healthcare needs. Telling your GP that your child is HIV-positive will help the doctor have a full picture of the child’s health to ensure they get the best possible care.

You’ll be referred to a specialist clinic at the time your child is diagnosed with HIV. Or your own HIV clinic will be able to arrange an appointment for you. You can also find a clinic by calling the Terrence Higgins Trust helpline, THT Direct, on 0845 12 21 200.

The formal name for a clinic that looks after HIV-positive children is a paediatric HIV clinic. But it’s likely that it will have another name (e.g. Family Clinic or ABC Clinic). Names like these don’t have HIV in the title to protect the confidentiality of you and your child.

You can expect the clinic to be friendly and welcoming and its decoration and facilities will be non-threatening for children. There are likely to be pleasant activities for your child to help entertain him or her while you are waiting to be seen.

A number of specialist staff will be involved in the care of your child.

HIV paediatrician : The medical care of your child will be looked after by a doctor who specialises in treating HIV-positive children. The formal name for a doctor who specialises in children’s medical care is a paediatrician. You’ll have regular appointments with this doctor to monitor the health of your child. It’s very important that you make sure that you and your child attend these appointments as they are essential to ensuring that your child receives the right treatment and care.

Your child’s doctor will conduct physical examinations and arrange any tests. Details of the sorts of tests that may need to be done will be described later in this booklet.

The doctor will also be able to prescribe medicines to treat HIV and other infections. Details of HIV treatment for children will also be described later in this booklet.

Specialist nurses: Your clinic will also have nurses who are dedicated to looking after HIV-positive children. As well as looking after aspects of your child’s medical care, they’ll also be able to talk through with you other issues involved in looking after an HIV-positive child.

Specialist pharmacists: Medicines will be essential to looking after the health of your child, and to make sure they are used in the right way, your clinic will have specialist paediatric pharmacists. They will make sure that the right drugs and doses are dispensed and will check for interactions with other medicines. They will be able to provide information about how to take medicines properly.

Social workers: Having an HIV-positive child isn’t just a medical issue. It can also have a big impact on other aspects of your life. There will be social workers at your clinic who can help you with questions and problems you may have about issues such as support, housing, benefits and schooling. There’s more information in the section on sources of support later in this booklet.