Health systems strengthening

The assessment for HIV/AIDS integration in primary health care in Kazakhstan was undertaken in 2022. The overall objective of the assessment was to use findings and lessons learnt from TB and mental health integration to guide and support integration of HIV/AIDS into primary health care. A mixed methods approach combining both qualitative and quantitative assessment methods was used. Assessment report available in English and Russian.

UNICEF’s HIV/AIDS Thematic Fund is a global flexible funding pool. It enables us to strengthen systems to ensure an AIDS-free future for children and adolescents. This offers donors an exciting opportunity to target funding specifically to HIV/AIDS outcomes, while also giving UNICEF the flexibility to allocate funds based on where the need is greatest for children, including critically underfunded priorities at the country level, humanitarian response activities, and where funds will have the greatest impact. Thanks to our generous donors UNICEF’s Global HIV/ AIDS Thematic Fund income in 2022 reached over $5.7 million.

This document features the results achieved in 2022, when supporters of the HIV/AIDS Thematic Fund enabled UNICEF to allocate resources to 45 countries and territories. Funds were allocated to countries based on several measures determining the burden of HIV/AIDS on the population. These included the number of AIDS-related deaths in the country and the number of new infections among children and adolescents in the country. Funds were also allocated to UNICEF’s regional and global headquarters, supporting the vital work that allows thematic funding to unlock wide-scale results and impact the world over.

The AU Summit Brochure was created after the inaugural countries leading the Global Alliance to end AIDS in Children met together with community representatives, UN agencies, stakeholders and partners gathered in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on February 1st, 2023. This was done to discuss our progress and our plans to end AIDS in Children by 2030 and this brochure highlights each AU country's Global Alliance action plan.

The Republic of Uganda Ministry of Health has released its National Pediatric and Adolescent HIV Advocacy Strategy And Road Map 2022-2026, disseminated in Kampala during October 2022. 

The overall objective of this strategy is to complement and catalyze the ongoing national programs targeted at improving pediatric and adolescents HIV outcomes by addressing the policy and resource allocation gaps. This will be through putting in place a uniform and harmonized technical approach to advocacy across the national response stakeholders. The strategy provides standardized practical approaches to guide stakeholders in planning, designing, implementing and evaluating advocacy initiatives in support of pediatric and adolescents HIV. The strategy will institute systems to keep truck of ongoing and new advocacy initiatives to ensure they are aligned to the advocacy issues highlighted in the strategy for continuous process quality improvement and mitigate risks associated with uncoordinated advocacy initiatives. 

Community and primary health facility platforms have been recognized as important, but under-utilized entry points to address the large prevention, case detection and treatment gaps faced by young children with TB and/or HIV. In 2014, WHO and UNICEF revised community health worker packages for integrated community case management (iCCM) targeting children under five years of age, to include screening and referral for TB and HIV (TB/HIV iCCM). As part of an integrated, child-centered approach, TB/HIV iCCM is recommended for use in high TB and HIV burden settings.

Developed by UNICEF and Save the Children, Lessons from the Field (Uganda, Nigeria, Malawi) and Guidance (under development) are available for download.

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 highlights the current scenario of policies and programmes related to point-of-care viral load testing among pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV. In many countries, viral load policies are not differentiated for pregnant and breastfeeding women despite evidence that point-of-care viral load testing is helpful for this population. Same-day results for pregnant and breastfeeding women can help ensure timely initiation of ART, improved rates of viral suppression and retention in care to support efforts of preventing vertical transmission of HIV.

This qualitative rapid appraisal study from researchers at the South African Medical Research Council and partners explores how community cadres provide links to health facilities and supports HIV client support. The study maps the roles taken by the community cadres as well as challenges and opportunities.

In follow-up to the 2017 Continental Summit in October 2017, Pediatric-Adolescent Treatment Africa (PATA) released a summary report with key highlights and recommendations from the meeting. Towards an AIDS Free Africa – Delivering on the frontline was the focus of the 2017 Summit, which brought together over 200 delegates across 15 sub-Saharan African countries along with programme implementers and policy-makers from across the globe. The recommendations provided are centred around three pillars – FIND, TREAT and CARE – that support the UNAIDS superfast-track framework. Attending health facility teams drafted new quality improvement plans and will be commencing 53 projects improving service delivery at the frontline in 2018.