Identification of children and adolescents living with HIV (C/ALHIV) is a key priority of PEPFAR to ensure timely diagnosis and linkage to life-saving antiretroviral treatment (ART). Index testing has proven to be an effective modality to identify C/ALHIV, through a biological parent or HIV-infected sibling, who would otherwise not be quickly linked to ART. Clinical and OVC staff have unique and shared responsibilities in the on-going efforts to increase the number of C/ALHIV identified through index testing across all PEPFAR-supported countries.
Two Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) have been developed to support the joint operationalization of improving index testing coverage for children and adolescents and should be used in tandem for maximized results.
Hosted by PEPFAR, this webinar presents a discussion on index testing for children and SOPs to help improve coordination between clinical and obesity partners. The discussion includes panelists (listed below) on topics including COP20 guidance, highlights of the SOPs, M&E and reporting, and experiences applying the SOPs in two country contexts in Kenya and Ethiopia. The discussion is followed by a moderated Q&A session.
Moderator:
- Caroline Cooney, S/GAC
- Viva Thorsen, CDC
- Jessica Tabler Mullis, Save the Children
Presenters:
- Hilary Wolf, S/GAC
- Megan Gleason, USAID
- Nimahsa Fernando, USAID
- Sally Bjornholm, USAID
- Joshua Volle, USAID
- Kesetebirhan Yirdaw, FHI360
- Grace Mayanjar, FHI360
- Lennah N. Omoto, CDC
- Caroline Kambona, CDC
The slide deck for the presentation is available here.
