1st International Paediatric HIV Symposium in Africa

Virtual Symposium

17–18 November 2021

Theme of the symposium

Leaving no child with HIV behind: Efficiencies, innovation and stakeholder engagement in service delivery

The International Paediatric HIV Symposium in Africa (IPHASA) convened for the first time in November 2021 at a virtual meeting with the theme, Leaving no child with HIV behind: Efficiencies, innovation and stakeholder engagement in service delivery. The Ministry of Health of Uganda leads the IPHASA Organizing Committee in partnership with the Collaborative Initiative for Paediatric HIV Education and Research (CIPHER) of IAS – the International AIDS Society – and representatives of several ministries of health and leading organizations in paediatric HIV.

IPHASA aims to enable discussion of the latest science and build the capacity of healthcare workers and policy makers in implementing evidence-based approaches in the response to paediatric HIV across Africa. The overall objective is to facilitate the translation of evidence and good practices in the paediatric HIV response for implementation and adaptation across the African continent.

“The World Health Organization, UNICEF and UNAIDS have for years provided guidelines for countries in implementing HIV services for children living with HIV. However, this has not necessarily translated into policy and practice in diverse regions and countries, especially on the African continent. The aim of IPHASA is to build capacity of healthcare workers, policy makers and all stakeholders in the implementation of evidence-based approaches to reduce the “know-do” gap. At this meeting, best practices and new research findings on children living with and affected by HIV will be disseminated. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the 1st International Paediatric HIV/AIDS Symposium in Africa. We hope that this virtual symposium, with its unique brand of integrating implementation science research into the programme, will contribute to improving paediatric HIV programmes on the African continent.”

Eleanor Namusoke-Magongo, IPHASA Founder and Chair.

Why attend?

IPHASA will share paediatric HIV evidence and good practices to help support in-country implementation and adaptation across the African continent. Symposium participants will include healthcare workers, policy makers, programme implementers, representatives of ministries of health and researchers working on paediatric HIV.

By attending the symposium, you will:

  • Hear the latest global and regional updates in paediatric HIV prevention, care and treatment
  • Learn from country experiences and best practices in implementing paediatric HIV programmes
  • Equip yourself with new knowledge and skills in implementation science

Background

Globally, 1.8 million children younger than 15 years are living with HIV; 150,000 children were newly infected by HIV in 2019 and 95,000 AIDS-related deaths occurred in that year. The African continent is the epicentre for the HIV epidemic, with the biggest burden (89%) of children living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa.

Levels of access to ART vary across Africa, at 61% in the east and south and 23% (the lowest) in the west and central regions. In addition, 13.8 million children worldwide lost one or both parents due to AIDS-related deaths in 2019 and more than 74% of these were in sub-Saharan Africa. These gaps are hampering the path towards achieving the 90-90-90 goals for paediatric and adolescent populations and demand strengthened efforts to improve testing, treatment and retention in the HIV care cascade.

Substantial evidence is generated in the field of paediatric HIV services; however, translation of that evidence into practice for Africa has been a challenge.