Objectives
- Find children who are at risk of HIV and test them.
- Link children living with HIV to antiretroviral treatment (ART).
- Improve treatment adherence and retention in care
- Strengthen the knowledge and skills of healthcare providers to deliver child-friendly, stigma-free HIV services, identify and address barriers to care, and support children living with HIV and their caregivers to remain engaged in treatment.
- Generate and use evidence to influence policymakers and advocate for more child-friendly HIV policies, services and resource allocation for children living with HIV.
What the project does
Afya-Watoto finds the children others miss. The project works closely with communities, families, schools and health facilities to increase HIV testing, strengthen follow-up and support children to stay on treatment.
Key activities include community outreach and mapping, family-based HIV testing, screening in schools and among out-of-school youth, training healthcare workers in paediatric HIV care, strengthening data collection and quality assurance, and supporting children and caregivers through adherence clubs and follow-up services. The project also works with community peer supporters and schools to reach children who might otherwise remain beyond the reach of the healthcare system.
What sets Afya-Watoto apart is its ability to combine community knowledge with data-driven decision-making and action. The project uses geographic and population data to identify gaps in HIV services and direct outreach efforts to the children and communities that need them most.
Through digital reporting and continuous learning, Afya-Watoto adapts its approach in real time, improves the effectiveness of the project and generates evidence to advocate for more child-friendly policies, stronger services and sustainable HIV care for children living with HIV.
Contribution to the Paediatric HIV Partnership
As part of the Paediatric HIV Partnership, Afya-Watoto delivers more than services for children in Tanzania. The project generates practical evidence on how community-based approaches, digital tools and strong partnerships can identify children who are often missed by traditional healthcare systems.
By testing and refining approaches that improve diagnosis, treatment uptake and retention in care, Afya-Watoto creates solutions that can be replicated and scaled. The lessons learned will help strengthen paediatric HIV programmes, inform policy and improve service delivery in Tanzania and beyond, contributing to the shared goal that every child living with HIV can access timely diagnosis, treatment and lifelong care.
Role of partners and Aidsfonds
NACOPHA (National Council of People Living with HIV/AIDS Tanzania) leads community mobilisation, community mapping, advocacy and project coordination.
MDH (Management and Development for Health) leads and implements community HIV testing and ART linkage and supports training and supervision.
The project works with government health structures, facilities, community health workers, Konga teams, mentor mothers, peer networks, schools, and local authorities.
Aidsfonds supports the project as the funding partner and facilitates learning and knowledge exchange across the broader Paediatric HIV Partnership, helping successful approaches reach more children living with HIV.
