Adolescents

To reach global pediatric HIV targets, efforts must extend beyond clinic doors. Community-based organisations (CBOs), faith-based organisations (FBOs) and places of worship can play a pivotal role in accelerating and expanding services. However, for their contribution to be amplified, they must be engaged as integral implementing partners in service delivery and effectively linked to the health system. A systematic approach is required to formally establish and resource these linkages, as well as embed them in district planning and coordination.

This is part of a series of 12 policy briefs by the Child Survival Working Group on scaling up key interventions for children and adolescents living with HIV. Learn more. 

Children and adolescents living with HIV (CALHIV) have a lifetime of antiretroviral therapy (ART) ahead of them. An estimated 95% of HIV service delivery is currently facility-based, largely undifferentiated for individual need. Differentiated service delivery (DSD) is a client-centred approach, simplifying and adapting services to better meet the needs of people living with HIV and reducing unnecessary burdens on the health care system. Differentiated ART delivery for clinically stable children and adolescents is supported by global agencies, and a growing body of evidence highlights how differentiated ART provides a significant opportunity to improve treatment adherence among children and adolescents living with HIV. However, CALHIV are still often not prioritized when scaling up differentiated ART delivery.

This is part of a series of 12 policy briefs by the Child Survival Working Group on scaling up key interventions for children and adolescents living with HIV. Learn more.

Motherhood is common among female sex workers (FSWs) and many have at least one biological child. People who inject drugs (PWID), men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people (TG) are also part of families and have at-risk spouses and children in their households. Stigma and discrimination towards key populations (KP) can negatively impact their children’s access to health, education and protection services. Program data from Cameroon, Ethiopia and Tanzania reflect positivity rates of 4-6 per cent when children of FSWs are tested for HIV.  Access to early infant diagnosis (EID), HIV testing and treatment and other critical health, social and economic strengthening interventions for children of KP and their families must be improved as a priority.

This is part of a series of 12 policy briefs by the Child Survival Working Group on scaling up key interventions for children and adolescents living with HIV. Learn more. 

Building on the collaborative effort that resulted in tremendous progress in scaling up lifesaving anti-retroviral treatment and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa region (ESAR), UNAIDS and UNICEF launched a campaign titled All In to End Adolescent AIDS (All In) in 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya.

This report highlights how All In mobilized partners, engaged adolescents and young people and influenced policies and programmes in the 14 high-burden HIV countries in ESAR. The report documents the progress made in a few short years on adolescent HIV, and offers suggestions and recommendations on how to strengthen strategic information, apply evidence-based programming and mobilize resources for adolescents in the HIV response. 

The Population Council and partners developed this toolkit to help build relevant, tailored and positive programmes for adolescent girls through the asset-building approach helps. The Building Assets Toolkit introduces policymakers and programme planners to this approach, offers resources and provides examples. Find additional content including customisable asset cards and worksheet here. 

More women are accessing antiretroviral therapy than men, transferring the benefits of their good health to their families and economies. When young women are empowered and have their rights fulfilled, HIV prevalence falls, there are fewer unintended pregnancies, fewer maternal deaths and fewer dropouts from school and more women join the workforce.

This Population Council document primarily aims to provide DREAMS country teams with practical guidance on building evidence on PrEP for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW). It includes factors that influence informed choice, demand and use of PrEP by young women, key characteristics that affect client-provider interactions, and practical advice on gathering data on user, community, and provider perspectives.

The West and Central Africa Catch-up Plan provides a framework for political advocacy and accelerated action for countries to adapt and scale up effective approaches and innovations that will reduce inequity in access to HIV treatment. Twelve countries have adapted this regional initiative to their national contexts and developed country catch-up plans, with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO), UNAIDS and UNICEF.

At the 19th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA), country representatives and partners took part in a meeting convened by UNICEF and UNAIDS to reflect on the shortfalls within West and Central Africa country catch-up plans and to agree on ways to sharpen acceleration strategies and interventions that will increase access to paediatric ART.

The meeting at ICASA had three high-level strategic objectives:

1. Call greater attention to the gap in paediatric HIV testing, including EID, and paediatric treatment within the West and Central African country catch-up plans
2. Define the priority actions for children in country catch-up plans in 2018, with a focus on: (a) expanding access to paediatric HIV testing through improved EID and rapid testing at other entry points; (b) improving immediate linkages to care and treatment; and (c) task-shifting to enable nurses within maternal, neonatal and child health facilities to treat children
3. Galvanize partnerships in support of country catch-up plans

More information can be found in this meeting report.