Pediatric HIV/AIDS Medical Care in Phnom Penh:

the Sullivan Center & Albro Lundy Jr Playground

In August 2009, CHC opened the Joseph P. Sullivan Outpatient Center of Excellence for HIV Care of Children (the Sullivan Center) and the newly renovated Pediatric Ward at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital (KSFH) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s largest public hospital and opened the Albro Lundy Jr. ‘Rescuing Life’ Playground in 2013.

Impact:

1.Outpatient care at the Sullivan Center has provided care for 600+ HIV-positive children through the years, bringing together children with HIV+/AIDS initiated on HIV/AIDS drugs by CHC at the Maddox Chivan Children’s Center and cohorts of children with HIV/AIDS from MSF-France and the Maryknoll Missionaries who trusted CHC with the care of these children when they withdrew from HIV work in Cambodia. The Center provided local, sustainable, and integrated outpatient HIV care and treatment with a special focus on children with HIV and TB.

2. 85,000+ outpatient visits for HIV care from children living with HIV/AIDS were conducted at the Sullivan Center between 2009-2020 with approximately 400 HIV-positive children /year under the age of 18 receiving their routine and ongoing primary HIV care and medicines at the center per year. An average of 30 HIV-positive children were evaluated daily at the center during during these years.

Outstanding success of treatment was measured in HIV viral load suppression and adherence with medicines.

3. The program was linked with the CHC’s Maddox Chivan Children’s Center, which provided HIV counselors and social workers to assist with medical counseling of children and social problems faced by these children and their families and provided educational opportunities and support at the Maddox Chivan Children’s Center.

4. The KFSH adjoining Pediatric Ward, which had been poorly functional was rehabbed at the time of building the adjoining Sullivan Center in 2009, which enhanced inpatient services for all children arriving at the hospital for any reason. The renovated inpatient ward houses 20 beds, contains isolation rooms for children with infectious TB, staff rooms, and neonatal and intensive care facilities consistent with local standards of care.

This allowed the development of neonatal care for newborns in distress linked to the busy maternity ward (~3000 births/year) at the Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital and the establishment of an active vaccination program at the ward for all children.

5. During COVID, all HIV care at the Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital including the Sullivan Center, was merged with the National AIDS Program (NCHADS) Clinic in Phnom Penh where 175 of patients who received HIV care at the Sullivan Center as children are now treated along with our remaining pediatric patients by CHC in partnership with the Cambodian National AIDS Program (NCHADS) team.

6. As the children have grown into teenagers and young adults and have joined adult HIV clinics according to Cambodian Ministry of Health policy, and, because pediatric HIV transmission has been significantly decreased due to screening for HIV before birth and treatment of HIV-infected mothers, a major focus of CHC’s current work is to provide counseling to support the adherence of adolescent and young adults with lifelong HIV treatment during this challenging time of life.

Critical support for the work of the Sullivan Center through the years has been provided by Jeanne Sullivan, Barbara and Peter Sereda, Cathi and Albro Lundy, Mark Peters, and Angelina Jolie.