The Whangarei childcare centre accused of expelling a boy because he has HIV says the claims are untrue.

The Mokopuna Early Childhood Education and Care Centre - which is run by the He Puna Marama Trust - has been under attack after the New Zealand Aids Foundation (NZAF) said it kicked out a four-year-old child because he was HIV-positive.

But the trust's chief executive Raewyn Tipene today said the centre has not "excluded, expelled, or shut out the child" and many statements made by the NZAF were unfounded.

"We are disappointed at the slanted view put across in the media and the unwarranted attack by the Aids Foundation," she said.

The centre was putting in place a care plan to ensure children received appropriate care, staff were aware of their condition and how best to care if any situation occurred, she said.

"Safety of all the children and staff at the centre is paramount."

Tipene said the centre was working alongside the Ministry of Education to make sure they meet their obligations to the child.

"The trust does not wish to inflame the situation or add to the negativity in the community or have suspicion landed on any other centre," she said.

'NONSENSE'

The man who helped enrol Aids-sufferer Eve van Grafhorst in his Hastings school 26 years ago said the expulsion of an HIV-positive child from the centre was "nonsense".

David Simpson was part of the team that famously accepted van Grafhorst - who became renowned for her brave fight against the virus - to the Rudolf Steiner School in 1986, after she was forced out of a school in Australia.

He said there was "absolutely no reason" why a child with HIV could not attend centre.

"It's a long time ago since we dealt with this situation. We simply educated ourselves. The clear message that we got is that there is no reason to worry at all."

"I think they should be listening to the health professionals and I feel very sorry for this young child who for no reason other than the fact that he's got an unfortunate disease is kept from school," Simpson said.

"Based on our experience, it's nonsense and it shouldn't really be happening."

'WITCH HUNT'

The family has yet to decide whether to go to the Human Rights Commission, but in a statement, the Commission said the child's caregivers could complain on the grounds of disability.

"It is unlawful to discriminate against a person under a range of grounds outlined in the Human Rights Act," it said.



The Commission was "concerned" about the expulsion of the child and urged those involved to resolve the issue quickly.



Northland Kindergarten Association general manager Richard Storey said the child would be welcomed at any Northland kindergarten.



"We have policies and procedures in place, ours staff are totally au fait with children with HIV - it's not an issue."



Storey said in the past couple of years one HIV positive child was taught by a Northland kindergarten without any problems.



All the Northland Kindergarten Association's staff were fully qualified, registered early childhood professionals, and knew that HIV could not be passed on to other children while playing, he said.



NZAF executive director Shawn Robinson said it was "outrageous" how the boy and his family were being treated by the centre and Whangarei community.



"It's stuff we haven't seen for 25, 30 years since the beginning of the Aids epidemic. In fact, something we have never really seen in New Zealand," he said.



"This is a community that has started to get into a hysterical witch hunt and is refusing to listen to the facts about HIV and is really persecuting this boy and his family."



Robinson said the boy's brothers, who are at primary school, were also being discriminated against, even though they don't have the virus.



About 20 parents went to the school, demanding the brothers be removed, he said.



"The principal had to send them home for fear of their safety, not because he agreed with the parents."



Robinson said the boy was not infectious. He was now at home with family, "socially isolated".



BOY CRIES EVERY DAY

The boy cries every day "because he wants to go play with his friends and can't understand why," his grandmother Angela told Campbell Live.



"This is a lonely illness."



Angela said her grandson contracted HIV from his mother during birth. The mother decided to tell the centre he had the virus on April 24, and two days later the centre told her "we don't want him here".



Robinson said he has been dealing with the centre for a couple of weeks, working to help them understand that the boy posed no risk to other children.



He met with the centre on Friday with the boy's paediatrician, but said it was a "really dysfunctional meeting".



"They didn't want to listen to any of the facts. They completely dismissed the doctor like he had nothing to add to the conversation," Robinson said.



"They have been wilfully ignorant to the facts and then allowed hysteria to occur."



A Ministry of Education spokesman said a meeting between the centre, parents, health officials, and the ministry had been scheduled for Monday to discuss how to best resolve the issue.



The spokesman said individual early education centres were legally responsible for the health and safety of children in their care, but needed to comply with human rights laws.



Robinson hoped the pressure would make the centre listen to the facts and see that the child posed no risk to other children.



"I really hope this poor little boy can go play with his friends."



He believed there were about 200 children and about 2000 people overall with HIV in New Zealand.



NO HEALTH RISK



Robinson said effective medications which have been available since the mid-1990s lower the amount of HIV in a person's body but do not cure it.



They do, however, reduce the level of HIV in the boy's blood to a level where it is undetectable when tested and have also greatly reduced the possibility of people being able to transmit HIV to others - even when involving blood.



The Director of Child Health at Auckland District Health Board, Dr Richard Aickin, said HIV could not be transmitted through social contact, sharing utensils, kissing, hugging or sharing baths.



"If another child has an open wound or cuts themselves simultaneously with another and is exposed to infected blood, then any blood from the infected child would have to firstly, contain viral DNA. This is unlikely in a child with an undetectable viral load," he said.



"Secondly, the virus would have to be able to survive the journey from the infected child to the non-infected child and thirdly, somehow manage to enter the non-infected child's blood stream.



"There has been no documented case of transmission of HIV from one child to another in a day care or school setting. This, we believe, supports our opinion that the transmission risk is miniscule," Aickin said.

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