RIATT-ESA to Provide Vital Support to the Global Alliance's Regional Hub for Eastern and Southern Africa

The Regional Inter-Agency Task Team on Children and AIDS in Eastern and Southern Africa (RIATT-ESA) is honored to announce its appointment by UNICEF to support the Global Alliance to End AIDS in Children by 2030 Regional Hub for Eastern and Southern Africa.

RIATT-ESA is excited to embark on this new journey as a key player in the Global Alliance's Regional Hub for Eastern and Southern Africa. The network remains dedicated to its vision of universal access to prevention, treatment, care, and support for children, adolescents and families affected by AIDS in the region, and is poised to make a significant impact in the years to come.

Click here to download the document

Position Paper: Children and young women in eastern and southern Africa are key to meeting 2030 HIV targets: time to accelerate action

By Kaymarlin Govender, Patrick Nyamaruze, Richard G Cowden, Yogan Pillay, Linda-Gail Bekker

New HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths among children and adolescent girls and young women (aged 15–24 years) in eastern and southern Africa continue to occur at unacceptably high rates. The COVID-19 pandemic has also severely undermined ongoing initiatives for HIV prevention and treatment, threatening to set the region back further in its efforts to end AIDS by 2030. Major impediments exist to attaining the UNAIDS 2025 targets among children, adolescent girls, young women, young mothers living with HIV, and young female sex workers residing in eastern and southern Africa. Each population has specific but overlapping needs with regard to diagnosis and linkage to and retention in care. Urgent action is needed to intensify and improve programmes for HIV prevention and treatment, including sexual and reproductive health services for adolescent girls and young women, HIV-positive young mothers, and young female sex workers.

Check here for more details: file:///C:/Users/HP/Downloads/1-s2.0-S2352301823000127-main_%20children%20and%20HIV%20targets_Lancet%20HIV.pdf

Policy Brief On Strengthening Paediatric HIV Testing In The Eastern and Southern African Region

This policy brief outlines proposed policy alternatives to addressing paediatric HIV testing – related challenges being experienced in the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) region.

Evidence for the policy brief was documented through an assessment of the National Paediatric Testing Guidelines and Advocacy in this region that was commissioned by Regional Inter-Agency Task Team on Children & AIDS.

The full police brief can be obtained through this link https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGrcXjNmKZLpKSXqjXhZpfFqPMR?projector=1&messagePartId=0.1

Time to Step-up: Prioritize Children, Adolescents, Families and Carers Affected By AIDS in Eastern and Southern Africa: Executive Summary

The Call to Action Outlines Action Steps Needed to Prioritize Children Affected by AIDS in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals

Ending the HIV pandemic is possible, but to do so, we must act quickly and recognize that the needs of children—the most vulnerable among us and unable to advocate on their own behalf—include but go beyond ending the spread of HIV and finding a cure.

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Click here to Download the Executive Summary.

Click here to Download the full call to action.

Understanding Fast-Track Accelerating Action To End the AIDS Epidemic By 2013

WE CAN END THE AIDS EPIDEMIC BY 2030 

Impressive advances in science, accumulated implementation experience, political commitments, community activism, human rights advances, global solidarity and attendant resources have offered us an historic opportunity to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.

The Fast-Track approach is an agenda for quickening the pace of implementation, focus and change at the global, regional, country, province, district and city levels. It involves setting ambitious targets and accelerating the delivery of high-impact HIV prevention and treatment services. It means using innovation to expand services, to better address people’s needs and perspectives and focus on the locations and populations with the highest HIV burden. It addresses social and legal barriers and advances human rights and gender equality. 

The Full Report of the Regional Consultation on the UNAIDS Strategy 2016-2021: East and Southern Africa

This Executive Summary with Key Messages captures the rich discussions and recommendation of the priorities for the region.

The consultation was welcomed by participants and the opportunity to make input to the UNAIDS Strategy 2016-2021 was appreciated. The discussions were robust, thoughtful and direct. The region has a clear view of its priorities, and the directions it needs to go. There was a depth of experience from different perspectives of the HIV epidemic, that currently characterizes the region: it knows its epidemic, knows what drives it, has lived and worked with it for decades and knows what works, doesn’t expect any ‘quick fixes’, but is also quick to recognize changes in situation, circumstance and epidemiological reality, and respond to them. There is a strong sense that the region will emerge better at the end of AIDS.

See the Final Report Here

Final Report of the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Consultation on the UNAIDS Strategy 2016 – 2021

Report of the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Consultation on the UNAIDS Strategy 2016 – 2021

The consultation comprised a number of elements, clustered round a one-day Consultation held in Johannesburg on 23rd March 2015. These were:

• Wide dissemination of the UNAIDS Discussion Paper “Getting to Zero: How will we Fast-Track the Response?” in the region; this formed the basic platform for all elements of the regional consultation;
• Three constituency-specific consultations: an e-survey of civil society, a Human Rights and Social Justice Eastern and Southern Africa regional consultation, and Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Treatment Forum.
• The International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC) submitted a draft discussion paper with regard to the pressing need for the better inclusion of people with disabilities.
• The One-day Consultation: this used plenary and group discussions to elicit answers to the five questions from the UNAIDS Discussion Paper across seven themes identified as critical for the region: Prevention, Treatment, eMTCT, Human Rights and Social Justice, Gender, Community Engagement, Political Commitment and Sustainability. In addition a High Level Ministerial Panel deliberated through the day and presented a High Level Political Agenda.

One hundred and seventeen (117) participants from across the region attended the one-day consultation. There were from governments and programmes, civil society, communities, academia, and the UN family. In addition a High Level Ministerial Panel deliberated through the day and presented a High Level Political Agenda.

RIATT-ESA gave input into global consultation for the developing of the UNAIDS HIV strategy 2016-2021. Click here to read RIATT-ESA's input.

New RIATT-ESA Call-Time to Step-Up: Prioritise Children, Adolescents, Families and Carers Affected By AIDS in Eastern and Southern Africa

The Call to Action Outlines Action Steps Needed to Prioritize Children Affected by AIDS in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals

Ending the HIV pandemic is possible, but to do so, we must act quickly and recognize that the needs of children—the most vulnerable among us and unable to advocate on their own behalf—include but go beyond ending the spread of HIV and finding a cure. 

For children, urgent steps are required including:

• Better integrating strategies to reach this population into regional and national plans

• Providing the care and support needed to ensure optimal development

• Scaling up treatment, prevention and access to services—for children and their carers

The call to action sets out eight critical action steps needed to provide children, adolescents and carers with the focused attention required to turn the tide on HIV and AIDS:

• Scale-up access to PMTCT services

• Scale-up paediatric testing (early infant diagnosis)

• Increase treatment access and reduce loss to follow-up

• Provide HIV-sensitive social protection services

• Invest in the early years of children living affected by HIV

• Strengthen linkages between child protection and HIV services

• Intensify HIV prevention and treatment for adolescents

• Strengthen support for primary caregivers and community level care providers

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Here you can download:

• The full call to action

• A stand alone exec summary

A eight 1-page versions dealing with the eight areas touched on in the call to action.

1. Increasing Treatment Access and Reducing Loss to Follow-up
2. Intensify HIV Prevention and Treatment for Adolescents
3. Invest in the Early Years of Children Living with HIV
4. Provide HIV-Sensitive Social Protection Services
5. Scale-up Access to PMTCT Services
6. Scale-up Paediatric Testing (Early Infant Diagnosis)
7. Strengthen Linkages between Child Protection and HIV Services
8. Strengthen Support for Primary Caregivers and Community Level Care Providers

The eight critical action steps are now also available in French and Portuguese

Cliquez ici pour télécharger les huit actions prioritaires 

Clique aqui para baixar as oito ações essenciais