Paediatric HIV Partnership

Children continue to be left behind in the global hiv-response. According to UNAIDS, only 55% of children living with HIV were receiving antiretroviral treatment in 2024, compared with 78% of adults. Although children accounted for just 3% of people living with HIV, they represented 12% of AIDS-related deaths. An estimated 120,000 children acquired HIV that year, most through transmission during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding.

These inequalities reflect persistent gaps in diagnosis and access to care. Children may be missed when mothers are undiagnosed, families are outside routine health services, or testing and follow-up do not continue through breastfeeding. Children missed in infancy can remain undiagnosed for years and opportunities to identify them through nutrition, tuberculosis and other child health services are often overlooked.

Many approaches also fail to link testing to sustained treatment. Stigma, fragmented referrals, limited health workforce capacity and weak use of local data hinder the identification and retention of children living with HIV. Community organisations are essential for reaching families and supporting care but often lack sustainable funding and strong links with health facilities.

These challenges are becoming more urgent as HIV funding comes under increasing pressure. Global funding cuts threaten community outreach, staffing and the support services that help families access services. At the same time, countries are integrating HIV services into broader health systems. While this creates opportunities for more sustainable and accessible care, it also requires deliberate attention to children’s needs, paediatric HIV expertise and meaningful community involvement.

Our partnership works to close the gaps in paediatric HIV diagnosis and treatment. We find more children living with HIV who have not yet been diagnosed and connect them to timely, sustained care.

Together, we deliver impact through six key outcomes:

• Children are identified earlier and linked to treatment. Community-led, family-centred approaches use local data to reach children missed by routine health services.
• Children receive quality, sustainable HIV care. Stronger referrals, follow-up and collaboration between communities and health facilities help children start and stay on treatment.
• Communities drive the response. Community organisations and people with lived experience help shape funding decisions, programme delivery and service improvements.
• Children and women have better access to appropriate diagnostics, treatment and innovations. Community evidence informs advocacy for access to the tools and medicines they need.
• Paediatric HIV remains a policy and funding priority. Evidence and partner-led advocacy strengthen attention, investment and accountability for paediatric HIV, including within national and district health systems.
• Learning and innovation improve how children are reached and supported. The partnership tests and adapts community-led approaches to finding children with HIV and linking them to care. Partners use programme data and community experience to assess what works, share lessons across countries and improve their programmes. Effective approaches are documented and shared to inform advocacy and support wider adoption through national and district health systems.
  

Community partners are the driving force behind the Paediatric HIV Partnership. They lead implementation and country-level advocacy within the partnership. Their technical expertise, knowledge of local health systems and trusted relationships with families shape how the partnership reaches children who are being missed.

Working with children, caregivers, health facilities and government authorities, partners design and deliver approaches suited to their communities and strengthen the connections that help children access treatment and remain in care.

Partners also drive learning and innovation. They test and adapt approaches, generate evidence from their work and share lessons across countries. This knowledge informs programme improvements, advocacy and decisions about which approaches could be adopted more widely. Participatory grantmaking and the Paediatric HIV Advisory Panel help ensure that community expertise informs funding and programme decisions.

Aidsfonds supports community leadership as an involved funder, fundraiser and connecting partner. We provide multi-year funding, practical support and access to technical expertise, while facilitating collaboration and shared learning.

Building on our experience developed alongside community organisations through Kids to Care, the Paediatric HIV Breakthrough Partnership and wider work on treatment access and community-led HIV responses, we help strengthen learning across countries and translate evidence into action.

Partners and communities define their country-level advocacy priorities and lead engagement with national and district decisionmakers. Aidsfonds backs these efforts with evidence support, connections to allies and opportunities for partners to participate directly in relevant regional and global discussions. Our wider advocacy and fundraising work build on these country priorities, helping mobilise investment and support for effective community-led approaches. The aim is to strengthen partners’ ability to lead and sustain their work.