Pediatric HIV
Every week, more than 2,000 children in Africa die of AIDS-related causes. Reaching those children and youth, and their families and communities, is at the core of our mission at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Founded through a mother’s determination, we’re driven to see a world where no other mother, child or family is devastated by HIV and AIDS.
Enhancing Pediatric HIV Testing and Diagnosis
Incredible progress has been made in children’s access to HIV testing. But the population left untested has become increasingly hard to reach. To adapt and expand our mission, we have increased access to testing for HIV and for opportunistic infections among HIV-exposed infants and children by creating greater opportunities to test in labor and delivery wards, as well as at the service delivery points for routine child wellness care such as nutrition, growth monitoring, and vaccines.
We’ve also applied index case finding approaches to further enhance access to testing among children, and in the last decade we’ve been at the forefront of the scale-up and use of early point-of-care technology to rapidly test and, if found HIV-positive, link young infants to treatment on the day of their test, without the use of crowded laboratory systems.
HIV Treatment Access Among Children
In order to give children the best chance of survival, we must provide them with sustainable access to the best available treatments and ensure viral suppression. We promote expanded access to the latest pediatric HIV treatment formulations and informed counseling methods, and we work with national governments in supported settings to adapt new treatment guidelines and improve the capacity of health workers to manage HIV in this special population.
Currently, the pediatric antiretroviral market faces significant quality, demand, adoption, supply, and delivery barriers that hinder the rapid and sustainable application and use of effective, newer-to-market, child-friendly formulations. We are dismantling these barriers to create a glide path for the introduction of critical new medicines and formulations, and for scaling up access to these improved formulations among children.
Treatment Adherence Support for All
In each of our supported health care settings, we train facility staff to respond to the complex needs of children and adolescents, and we work with communities to reduce HIV stigma and discrimination. We counsel caregivers and clients to ensure they have the tools they need to support their children and themselves, beginning with testing and diagnosis and continuing through retention in treatment, offering a range of psychosocial support models.
