Commitment 28:

CRS:

• FASTER supported development of PMTCT messages to be used by faith leaders to promote EID uptake, and facilitated faith leader participation in demand creation message development.

• FASTER also supported NAC coordination of FBO and key stakeholders to review NGO engagement strategy and improve FBO community epidemic response potential and to educate and mobilize faith leaders (including youth leaders) on pediatric ART.

• CRS’ EpiC 3-90 Project in Zambia supported the implementations of the Faith and Community Initiative activities across Eastern, Lusaka, Southern and Western Provinces of Zambia. The project engaged and oriented 279 faith leaders in the dissemination of new messages of Hope within their faith communities, leading to achievement of 93% towards the target. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the faith communities had to innovate and use their faith community social media platforms to disseminate the messages of hope. Faith leaders were engaged to create demand for the uptake of HIV services, especially encouraging the testing of men, children, and adolescents. EpiC 3-90 and its partners leveraged on the existing relationships with faith leaders and faith communities to bolster case-finding and linkage to treatment, especially among men.

• To increase case identification among the men and children using HIV self-testing and index testing whilst promoting linkage to ART services, improving retention and viral suppression, EpiC 3-90 and its partners engaged faith community leaders, liaison officers and life coaches. The faith community leaders (or champions) conducted demand creation through dissemination of the messages of hope whilst the liaison officers who also took on the role of life coaches provided the HIV self-tests and linkage to HIV related services in the Community Posts. In total, support has been given to 279 faith leaders (champions) and 279 liaison officers or life coaches. This translates into a 93% achievement towards the target.

• EpiC 3-90 distributed 3,674 HIV Self-tests in faith communities—an achievement of 147% of the target. A total of 2,108 individuals were identified to be living with HIV and 100% were linked to ART care. The positivity yield was at 33% with an index positive contribution of 37% to all the cases identified. In total, 279 congregations deployed support for linkage and retention.

• The Lesotho 4Children Faith Communities Initiative is developing a sermon guide, or Faith Pack, to be used by faith community leaders to educate the community and increase demand for HIV testing, prevention, treatment, and viral load suppression services. The guide delivers HIV information tailored to leverage faith communities’ role as spiritual leaders, and mobilize the faith community to support families and affected communities living with HIV, while also reducing stigma and discrimination.

 

CRS FOCUS South Africa HIV Treatment Surge project completed adaptation of CABSA's "Churches, Channels of Hope®" faith-based leader training curriculum and parnticipant workbook to provide postive messages on importance of HIV testing, treatment and retention on treatment, and to destigmatize HIV, and trained 11 Master Trainers. Will be training 2,000 faith-based and traditional leaders. 

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Caritas Nigeria continue to support of 62 pediatric ART champions who are religious leaders trained to use the social capital of the Church in Nigeria to deliver audience appropriate messaging about HIV stigma, testing and diagnosis in children to their communities across Nigeria. Champions conducted free medical outreaches in Lafia Diocese, North Central Nigeria which reached 515 children (aged 0 – 5 years) with clinical evaluations & treatment for communicable diseases from amongst whom 431 children aged 0 – 5 years with three children (F 2; M 1) testing HIV positive of the 515 beneficiaries aged 6 – 10 years. An additional 11 pediatric ART champions were identified during this post-training phase activity.

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Commitment 29:

CRS FASTER supported development of FBO-tailored stigma and discrimination fact sheets, documenting the extent of the problem and the role of the FBO community in addressing stigma, and trained FBO leaders in their use. FBO leaders reviewed and approved materials, which are being printed and disseminated.

 

CRS FOCUS South Africa HIV Treatment Surge project completed adaptation of CABSA's "Churches, Channels of Hope®" faith-based leader training curriculum and parnticipant workbook to provide postive messages on importance of HIV testing, treatment and retention on treatment, and to destigmatize HIV, and trained 11 Master Trainers; and 600 of 2000 faith-based and traditional leaders trained. 

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Caritas Nigeria provided post-training support to 62 religious leaders trained under the GRAIL project continued with community awareness creation and free medical outreaches for childhood illnesses (which included a HIV test).  Following successful training of religious leaders on the understanding of the fundamentals of HIV which has helped to dispel myths and misconception, the organization has organized about two review meeting to further deepen this understanding. A number of Parishes have organized church based HIV testing showing a positive impact on stigma reduction.
 

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Commitment 30:

Caritas Nigeria, through her PEPFAR funded HIV care and Treatment Program, is implementing pediatric and adolescent specific interventions through collaboration with health facilities and PLHIV support Group Network. Currently, selected health facilities are supported to implement adolescent friendly clinics, weekend clinics, adolescent clubs and Operation Triple Zero (OTZ)  all aimed at enhancing age appropriate education, testing and linkage to treatment and health and social support services.

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Between January and September 2019, EDARP has found 2,034 new HIV positive persons and successfully linked 99.9% to treatment.  This includes 1,971 adults and 63 children under the age of 18 years.  From June through September, EDARP is one of the first FBO’s in Kenya to integrate HIV Self Testing into its programing.  EDARP has distributed 2,058 kits during this time and has confirmed results on 678.  4.5% of the returned results were reactive and confirmed positive.  100% have been linked to treatment.  Between July and September 2019, EDARP integrated more target HIV testing toward individuals most-at-risk.  During this period 4,368 partners of HIV positive persons were elicited and tested, resulting in an HIV positivity yield of 17%.  21% of the HIV negative partners are now receiving PrEP.  EDARP is currently providing HIV treatment services for 25,618 adults and 1,457 children under 18 years of age. 85% of these children have achieved viral load suppression.

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CRS:

• FASTER supported MOH led scale up of youth and adolescent peer support models for case identification, linkage, and treatment retention and adherence, including the development and use of e-support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• FASTER Uganda supported development and scale up of antenatal and postnatal care for adolescent girls, enabling MOH led scale up of Group-ANC as a differentiated service delivery model.

• FOCUS/South Africa supported demand creation, index testing, and family testing reaching men and AGYW.During FY20, CRS supported FBOs referred 15,566 persons 0-19 years for testing (with 7.5% testing positive), and directly tested 3,896 persons 0-19 (1.5% positive). 97% of individuals identified as positive started ART within the same month. FOCUS/South Africa also provided 4,929 persons 0-19 years with support services to adhere to ART.

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CRS FASTER Project in Uganda supported MOH to conduct post- training technical supervision and mentorship of Young People and Adolescent Peer Supporters (YAPS); 10 national level mentorship teams reached 9 pilot districts, covering 49 health facilities; provided TA to review the YAPS mentorship tool.

CRS FASTER Project in Tanzania Paediatric HTS tool is in the final stages of editing.  FASTER is in discussions with EGPAF to operationalise its use (possibly with a focus on the 50 priority sites.
CRS FASTER Project in Zambia "clinical mentors" using CDC ECHO platform at 12 priority sites resulting in noticable improvement in pediatric case identification and ART initiation in previously poor performing sites; developed, printed and distributed a pediatric ART dosing chart which has been adopted by MOH and is being distributed countrywide. 

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Commitment 31:

CRS FASTER promoted and supported FBO representation and participation in key national decision-making meetings, including the national Pediatric TWGs where National strategy formulation to optimize the use of new technologies and interventions is developed.

 

Attended national HIV commodity forecasting meetings with the Procurement and Supply Management TWG.

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Commitment 32:

Caritas Nigeria has been part of the discussion and a member of the National Task Team that monitor progress on the pilot exercise on the use of DBS for Viral Load sample collection and use of Gene Xpert as Point of Care diagnostic modality for Early Infant Diagnosis and viral load monitoring.

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CRS:

• FASTER helped Ministries of Health in five countries establish and expand access to Point-of-Care testing for EID and VL testing, including supporting validations and registrations where necessary, as well as the development of job aids for health care workers on EID integration into existing health platforms such as EPI to improve identification of children and adolescents with HIV. FASTER countries have successfully registered POC/EID diagnostics, and FASTER is supporting the scale-up and optimization of these platforms to enhance the identification of HIV infected children and the monitoring of viral load suppression trends. Tanzania is focusing on prioritizing POC platforms for pregnant and lactating mothers in sites with both testing platforms (conventional/POC).

• FASTER supported the validation and rollout of HIV risk screening tools for children and adolescents and the incorporation of risk screening into national guidelines. In Zambia and Uganda, risk screening has been rolled out country wide.

• FASTER continued to support IPs through mentorship and Continuous Quality improvement Initiatives to improve use of HIV risk screening tools. Countries have increased the analysis and use of data in decision making and have demonstrated responsive stewardship of the proposed interventions to plug the gaps in pediatric HIV management.FASTER has also increased the proportion of clients

• In FASTER program countries, the proportion of clients tested through index testing has increased.FASTER’s focus on reaching children with unknown HIV status has increased the proportion of HIV positive children identified via index testing, and improved testing yields. This has been achieved through focused support by Ministries of Health and IPs for this testing modality.

• FASTER also supported countries to update the registration status of the OraQuick oral fluid-based HIV test kit to reflect the 2019 change notification and advise on use by parents/guardians on their children as young as 2 years.

• FASTER supported the development and launch of an online Diagnostics Evidence Hub (https://aslm.org/diagnostic-hub/) hosted by African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) that serves as a repository for technical and performance data on WHO-prequalified diagnostics, including Point-of-Care devices and HIV self-tests.

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* CRS FASTER Project in Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia is providing TA, tools, and training to MOH to expand POC EID; working with MOH to update 2016 "National Guidelines for HIV Prevention, Care and Support in Nigeria"; hosted a two-day meeting of the National Task Team on ART ad-hoc sub-committee and developed strategy and advocacy paper for country-wide elimination of user fees for HIV services which negatively impact case finding, linkage to treatment, retention in care and achievement of viral load suppression for children and adolescents; 
* CRS FASTER Project in Uganda developed EID-EPI integration job aid; and completed 93 of 193 POC EID site assessments in Dec 2019.
* CRS FASTER Project in Tanzania supported the national EID TWG to discuss refresher training on DBS sample collection and ensure more effective POC EID; preparing to operationalize the the pediatric section of national HIV risk screening tool with initial focus on 50 priority sites.

 

Commitment 33:

CRS FASTER project with CDC and PEPFAR has submitted a protocol for IRB approval of a study on caregiver assisted HIV oral screening of children between ages 2-18 years, to estimate acceptability, feasibility and impact linked to index testing services in Uganda and Zambia. Expecting to begin implementation by April 2020. The study is conducted in partnership with Orasure, which donated 10,000 testing kits, HIV screening to be performed by trained providers and care-givers in children aged 18 months -14 years. Meanwhile CRS is starting to train research assistants in order to enroll the first caregivers to be able to screen their eligible children with OraQuick tests (as soon as they will receive approval, expected April/May 2020)

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In Uganda and Zambia, FASTER received final IRB approvals to conduct studies on the use of OraQuick oral fluid-based HIV testing in children 18 months – 14 years. Study launch preparations start in October 2020.FASTER is also supporting programmatic implementation of HIVST among adolescents 15-17 years to inform policy and HIV testing guidance and scale up.

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Commitments 28, 29, and 30:

In February and March 2019, EDARP (located in the Nairobi slums) supported by WCC-EAA and a cooperative agreement with PEPFAR through the CDC provided trainings to 1,300 EDARP Community Health Workers, Young Adult Peer Mentors and to selected male EDARP staff members on the Kenyan National HIV Guidelines including HIV self-testing. They were also trained on new innovations  to improve identification of HIV positive adolescents and interventions to increase retention to care and treatment. The trainings included preparation and orientation of newly identified HIV positive paediatric/adolescent clients, including enrollment in peer support groups (both physical and virtual) and the involvement of their parents and guardians to maximize adherence and retention in care. 

 

The health care providers training was part of EDARPs effort to increase health care providers (social workers, community mobilizers, and facility team leads [who are nurses and clinical officers] in their knowledge, attitude and practices with regards to gender-based violence and work with key populations. This training aimed at 1) enhancing identification of new positive individuals particularly among key populations, adolescents and young people, 2) Ensuring person centered, targeted care to key populations already enrolled on care at EDARP facilities to improve their outcomes and quality of life and 3) improve the identification of gender based violence survivors, provide immediate post GBV care and provide appropriate referrals.

 

EDARP operates in 14 sites in the Eastern Slums of Nairobi with 390 staff, and over 1,200 community health educators and peer mentors; 26.000 adults and 1.500 children on ART.

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Commitment 29:

Through the ‘Leading by Example: Religious Leaders and HIV Testing Campaign’, the WCC-EAA engages religious leaders from different faith traditions to promote testing and linkage to services in faith communities, including by providing awareness on HIV and by creating stigma and discrimination free communities. This initiative promotes a strong linkage between faith communities and health-care facilities with the purpose of ensuring that more children are tested and retained for treatment. WCC-EAA is mobilizing and supporting faith leaders (Paediatric HIV Champions) and FBOs in advocacy on paediatric HIV.

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