BLOOM project
BLOOM project
The aim of the project is a healthy life for children and their mothers (10-24) living with or exposed to HIV.
- Adolescent girls and young women,
- Children,
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Kids to Care
Aidsfonds works in collaboration with governments and local partners, to test and scale up community-based HIV programmes. These are based on the Kids to Care model that is part of our Paediatric HIV approach to ensure children can live healthily with HIV. This model:
- empowers communities to find and support children and pregnant women living with HIV
- strengthens the links between communities and health facilities
Community health workers play a central role in the model and are a crucial link at all four stages of HIV care for children: find, test, start, and stay.
How community health workers have a crucial role in the model
To ensure children can live healthily with HIV and pregnant women can give birth to HIV-free babies, it is essential they get support in all four stages of HIV care: find, test, start, and stay. A high number of children with HIV or pregnant mothers are still not accessing health services. They remain undiagnosed because they are simply not known in the health system. When diagnosed with HIV, they are lost in the treatment cascade, either before or after being enrolled in care and having started treatment. Community health workers are the linking pin between the child and its caregivers or the pregnant woman, the health facilities, community key members, and the local government. They are crucial in each stage of HIV care to ensure children get the care they need.
The Kids to Care model:
Find
Communities know their children. Community health workers educate community members on paediatric HIV and move door-to-door to find children and pregnant women living with HIV.
Test
Community health workers are trained about paediatric HIV testing and treatment, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission. They test pregnant women and children in their homes or refer them for testing in the community or health facility.
Start
Community health workers help caregivers gain access to HIV treatment for children. Traditional and religious leaders, teachers and mentor mothers act as role models and encourage access to care. Staff at health facilities are trained to offer childfriendly services and to work closely with community health workers.
Stay
Community health workers support children to stay on HIV treatment. They promote treatment support groups for caregivers and children, and income-generating activities and savings groups for caregivers.
'Kids to Care taught us that if we are to end AIDS in children, we must go to the community'
Our Kids to Care projects
KidzAlive@Home
KidzAlive@Home
KidzAlive@Home is an innovative approach to improving identification, testing, treatment and retention in care for children living with HIV in South Africa by supporting caregivers to access comprehensive services in a child-friendly environment. It puts the child at the centre of care. Its needs are taken care of within a circle of key players, including their caregivers, the child’s family, community structures and the health facility. The programme was implemented by Zoë-life Innovative Solutions in South Africa with support from Aidsfonds, and focused on two communities in eThekwini and uMgungundlovu districts in KwaZulu-Natal province. KidzAlive@Home is based on identifying children living with HIV through engagement with community-based organisations and community structures building on the Kids to Care model stages which include find, test, treat and stay.
- Children,
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Kusingata
Kusingata
Kusingata means ‘support’ or ‘warmth’ in local language, referring to a support approach to families and children living with or affected by HIV. It is rooted in traditional systems of the communities in Inhambane. The programme makes use of these community structures for referrals to testing and treatment; individual support through home visits; support groups and community dialogues. Implementation of a community scorecard, a social accountability tool at health facility level, quality of HIV services have been improved from a user-perspective. To assure intrinsic motivation of clients, field staff and health care providers have received training on motivational interviewing. The Lafiyan Yara project is built on the Kids to Care model, using the four stages of find, test, treat and stay, where early detection of HIV can reduce infant, child and maternal mortality. To facilitate early detection of HIV, community-level mobilisers for health are engaged to conduct effective case identification and linkage to care.
- Children,
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Lafiyan Yara
Lafiyan Yara
The Lafiyan Yara project is a community-based response to paediatric HIV in Nigeria. Run by Society for Family Health, it aimed to increase uptake of HIV services among children aged 0-14 years and to reduce mother-to-child transmission. The project worked with traditional birth attendants, village health workers and patent and proprietary medicine vendors, who worked to eliminate vertical transmission and identify children living with HIV as early as possible so they can be linked to care and supported to live healthy lives. Lafiyan Yara was implemented between 2019-2022 in eight local government authorities in Taraba state with support from Aidsfonds. In Hausa language Lafiyan Yara means 'well-being of children'. The Lafiyan Yara project is built on the Kids to Care model, using the four stages of find, test, treat and stay, where early detection of HIV can reduce infant, child and maternal mortality. To facilitate early detection of HIV, community-level mobilisers for health are engaged to conduct effective case identification and linkage to care.
- Children,
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Towards an AIDS Free Generation in Uganda
Towards an AIDS Free Generation in Uganda
The Towards an AIDS Free Generation in Uganda (TAFU) programme was Aidsfonds’ first paediatric HIV community intervention programme. The programme trained up community health workers to identify HIV positive children, and link individuals to care and ongoing support. The programme was co-created through community leadership and engagement with key stakeholders, building on community knowledge of the needs of children living with HIV. Towards an AIDS Free Generation in Uganda changed the way that community-based paediatric HIV services were delivered.
- Children,
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