Children
Children
Children (0-14) are left behind in HIV care. In 2018 alone, 273 children died of AIDS and over 400 became HIV-infected each day. Worldwide 1.7 million children live with HIV, 46% are not on treatment. Without treatment, 50% of children born with HIV die before age two. 40% of children receiving treatment are on adult formulations.
This is unacceptable. Join us in bringing kids to care!
How the Aidsfonds Paediatric HIV approach radically changes paediatric HIV care
We know what is needed to reach all children in need of HIV care and we are determined to reach the following goals:
- All children living with HIV have started treatment, are supported to continue their treatment and live healthy lives.
- Appropriate and child-friendly HIV treatment is available, accessible and affordable for all children and their caregivers.
- All pregnant women living with HIV receive treatment and their children are born and remain HIV free.
Continue reading to find out what the Aidsfond Paediatric HIV approach is about.
Our approach: bringing kids to care
One of the Sustainable Development Goal targets is to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. It includes the super-fast-track target of providing 1.4 million children (0–14 years) with lifelong HIV treatment by 2020. Aidsfonds has therefore increased efforts and investments in children. Our Paediatric HIV approach comprises five components that mutually reinforce each other:
• Community-based HIV programmes
Aidsfonds works in collaboration with governments and local partners, to test and scale up community-based HIV programmes. These are based on our Kids to Care model which:
• Empowers communities to find and support pregnant women and children living with HIV
• Strengthens the links between communities and health facilities.
Community health workers are a crucial link at all four stages of HIV care for children: find, test, start and stay. It means
children can live healthily with HIV.
• Partnerships
Aidsfonds puts great value on partnerships to enhance our efforts:
- Build strategic partnerships with like-minded organisations like Elisabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, ELMA Foundation, Global Network of People living with HIV, PATA, UNICEF and ViiV Positive Action to ensure strong programmes through alignment and co-investment
- Explore opportunities for public-private partnerships and new business models to maximise our impact
- Involve key donors to become champions on community intervention models at regional and global levels
- We are an active member of several global networks and working groups, including the Coalition for Children Affected by AIDS and the AIDS Free working group
• Linking and learning
Aidsfonds has set up a paediatric HIV linking and learning initiative in which we:
- Connect our local partners in multiple countries to exchange best practices and share challenges and solutions
- Encourage partners to learn from each other to validate and further enhance community-based intervention models, adjusting the model to local contexts
- Jointly share lessons learned at national, regional and international levels to influence future programming, policies and funding of other organisations, donors and governments.
• Research
All Aidsfonds paediatric HIV programmes include research. Research is crucial to:
- Assess how best to reach all children living with or affected by HIV
- Assess the impact of the model
- Generate evidence on cost- and general effectiveness of community-based interventions as part of a paediatric HIV service delivery package
- Respond to emerging themes to improve paediatric HIV efforts and inform advocacy
• Advocacy
Aidsfonds advocates for:
- National and local government investment in effective community interventions for paediatric HIV care and to adopt and scale the model nationwide
- Integration of community intervention models in mainstream HIV and child health care service delivery
- Increased political and financial investments to ensure optimal, childfriendly and affordable paediatric HIV treatment and diagnostics are available for all children
An example of the impact of the approach in Uganda
In the past four years, our implementing partners in Uganda have found and brought into care 970 children and over 1800 pregnant women. Community health worker Jonathan tells why his role is key in the paediatric HIV response.
Children & HIV e-news
This newsletter is for networks and organisations that focus on children living with or affected by HIV and AIDS. It aims to create a platform for the networks and their members to share information, best practices, tools and research. The ultimate goal is to enhance your work on children. Browse through previous editions and subscribe for the next edition.