Eastern and Southern Africa

Global and regional epidemiological and response snapshots based on the UNAIDS 2019 HIV estimates.

Recognizing the harmful impact that COVID-19 and related lockdown measures pose for the HIV response, governments across ESA region are implementing interventions to sustain hard won gains toward ending AIDS. UNICEF country offices in support of governments and in collaboration with community and international partners have stepped up with evidence-driven and innovative interventions to protect continuity of HIV services. This compendium provides a summary of the innovative approaches being taken across nine HIV priority countries, Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. 

The AGYW Programming & Implementation Repository contains resources relevant to AGYW programming that have been collated to support enhanced implementation and programming of Global Fund Catalytic Funding for HIV prevention among AGYW in Eastern and Southern Africa. Developed in collaboration with Global Fund in response to an identified need from the SEA sub-region, we are confident that you will all find the repository useful in your support of national AGYW programmes.

The repository is housed on Google Drive and is accessible without a Gmail account. The resources are organized in folders by key programming area and are easily searchable through a google sheet. Powerpoint slides have also been developed to help you navigate through the repository.

The spreadsheet and slideshow are available for download above.

This multi-country case study from the UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office highlights important HIV-specific interventions that were integrated into the emergency cyclone response in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe during and after Cyclone Idai in March 2019. 

This brief summarizes lessons learned from Zimbabwe’s pilot implementation of integrated or multi-disease testing. Partnerships in the country focused on leveraging existing GeneXpert platforms for both TB and HIV testing to improve access to early infant HIV diagnosis and viral load testing. These findings describe the benefits of integrated testing for clients, health providers and the health system and are a resource for other countries scaling up point-of-care integrated testing.

This document outlines evidence-based practices for retention in care of mother-infant pairs in the context of elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (EMTCT) in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Developed by the UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) with support from HIV colleagues and partners, the report provides a review of the evidence-base on improving care for women living with HIV and their infants. It builds on the conceptual framework outlined in UNICEF’s Community-Facility Linkages report through an extensive literature review, stakeholder consultations and country visits.

Ten evidence-based practices were identified in the areas of service quality, human resources, use of health information and demand generation. The report describes these practices, including key considerations for implementation, helpful tools and resources. As countries take these evidence-based practices to scale, even greater numbers of vulnerable women and children will be given the opportunity not only to survive, but also to thrive, and the world will move closer to ending AIDS among children.

Innovative Approaches for Eliminating Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV: Experiences from Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, and Uganda

This report documents several promising practices focused on community engagement for PMTCT implemented under the Optimizing HIV Treatment Access for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women (OHTA) Initiative. OHTA, a UNICEF-supported initiative with funding from the Governments of Norway and Sweden, aimed to accelerate access to Option B+ for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, and Uganda. 

Find out more here. 

Innovative Approaches for Eliminating Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV: Experiences from Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, and Uganda

This report documents several promising practices focused on community engagement for PMTCT implemented under the Optimizing HIV Treatment Access for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women (OHTA) Initiative. OHTA, a UNICEF-supported initiative with funding from the Governments of Norway and Sweden, aimed to accelerate access to Option B+ for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, and Uganda. 

Find out more here. 

Innovative Approaches for Eliminating Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV: Experiences from Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, and Uganda

This report documents several promising practices focused on community engagement for PMTCT implemented under the Optimizing HIV Treatment Access for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women (OHTA) Initiative. OHTA, a UNICEF-supported initiative with funding from the Governments of Norway and Sweden, aimed to accelerate access to Option B+ for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, and Uganda. 

Find out more here.