Harare, (New Ziana) –Experts from 14 African countries are meeting in Harare to discuss progress and gaps in scaling-up peer provider services to eliminate HIV and AIDS in children.
A peer provider is a person who uses his or her lived experience plus skills learned in formal training in HIV care to provide patients with information, support and assistance in navigating services. HIV peers are often living with HIV, but not always.
Harare Metropolitan Province Provincial Medical Director Dr Innocent Hove said globally, 2.4 million children and adolescents living with HIV (CALHIV) face stark disparities in healthcare access, particularly regarding lifesaving antiretroviral therapy (ART). “Adolescents continue to experience the highest rates of treatment attrition, failure, morbidity and mortality compared to both children and adults,” he said.
In the next two days, participants will review progress in scaling-up peer provider services and visit selected health facilities in the capital to witness the impact of community adolescent treatment supporters and young mentor mothers.
Countries participating in the meeting include Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The meeting aims to establish systems, training, tools and financing to support children and adolescents living with HIV.
Dr Hove stressed the importance of supporting children and adolescents through focused service delivery, age-appropriate resources, and psychosocial and mental health interventions. He commended the Global Alliance to End AIDS in Children by 2030, which Zimbabwe is part of, for mobilizing stakeholders and ensuring early testing, comprehensive treatment and care.
“While HIV testing, treatment, and care are essential to achieving this goal, we also recognize that young people themselves are a critical part of the solution. Peer-led services are a vital strategy for achieving this goal and ensuring high-quality, adolescent-friendly health services,” he said.
The World Health Organisation recommends scaling-up peer-driven adolescent HIV models for all young people living with HIV.
“Our Zimbabwean model, Zvandiri, has been developed, scaled, and evaluated over the past 20 years and stands as a testament to this approach.” Zvandiri (As I am) is a community-based intervention to reduce virological failure in adolescents with HIV. The peer-led approach has influenced global policy and demonstrated the value of community adolescent treatment supporters and young mentor mothers.
“This model has influenced global policy, guidelines, service delivery, and resource allocation. To demonstrate the value we place on this cadre, Zimbabwe has been directly financing it for the past five years,” said Hove.
“Together, if we pool our expertise as governments, implementing partners, and young people, we can continue to prioritize youth at the forefront of our government-led HIV response,” he said.
“We must establish and maintain the systems, training, tools, and financing that young people need to effectively support all children and adolescents living with HIV at scale. While we’ve made significant strides, much work remains to ensure the end of AIDS for all young people.”
New Ziana