The resources in this toolkit cover a broad range of topics pertinent to the treatment, care and support of ALHIV including:
Reaching Youth Living with HIV
AIDS is now the leading cause of death among adolescents (aged 10–19) in Africa and the second most common cause of death among adolescents globally. There were 250,000 new HIV infections among adolescents in 2013, two thirds of which were among adolescent girls.
Current available data reveal that the scale-up of testing and treatment for children and adolescents living with HIV remains unacceptably slow. Children and adolescents under 15 years of age who are living with HIV are considerably less likely to receive treatment than adults, with less than one in four children between the ages of 0 and 14 (24% [22–26%]) accessing antiretroviral therapy in 2013. For adolescents who know their status and who are able to access treatment, many challenges remain. These include disclosure, stigma and discrimination, as well as a lack of support for helping them remain on treatment. Finding optimal antiretroviral regimens and supporting improved clinical and social support and care will be critical to reducing AIDS-related deaths in adolescents, and will require a holistic, life-cycle approach.
UNAIDS' strategic plan for reduction of HIV among youth includes the following elements:
- Adolescent leadership, mobilization and engagement
- Human rights and equity
- Sexual and reproductive health and education
- Improved data to drive planning and results*
In this Trending Topic, the Health COMpass provides a selection of tools and examples from project work aimed at responding to the challenges of youth living with HIV. We invite you to submit your own materials to the Health COMpass to enhance our collection. Simply register and then click on "Add Your Resources" on the home page to contribute.
*Retrieved from All In website - http://allintoendadolescentaids.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ALL-IN-La..., 1/18/16.
Photo credit: Anna, a young HIV positive Rwandan teenager, is an orphan who lost her father in the genocide and her mother to AIDS. Her mother was raped during the genocide and contracted HIV which transitioned to AIDS. Anna lives with her seven siblings, all of whom are HIV positive. She and most of her siblings have access to ARVs because of donors, including World Vision. However, three of her siblings were beginning to show signs of AIDS. © 2004 Eileen Dietrich, Courtesy of Photoshare 
It is recommended that, for children known to be living with HIV, the transition process from pediatric to adult care should begin in preadolescence with a transition plan developed and reviewed—at minimum—annually.
This WHO website is actually a report created primarily for people working in the health sector, especially the senior and mid-level staffs of ministries of health, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the range of health sector partners responsible for developing, implementing and supporting policies and programmes that contribute to adoles
This guide aims to motivate and support professionals who work with young people in life skills and sexuality education programs and those who develop policies and design programs in public and private institutions, for instance in schools.
This tool is a follow-on to the 2013 WHO guidance document - HIV and Adolescents: Guidance for Testing and Counseling and Care for Adolescents Living with HIV.
A guide that provides facilitators with background information about the needs of ALHIV, tips for starting an adult-led information and support group, and 14 sessions to follow in a group setting. The goal of the guide is to help ALHIV:
This training program has the following:
Core modules
Fact sheets on adolescent HIV trends, distribution of adolescent AIDS-related deaths, HIV treatment for adolescents, and adolescent knowledge, testing and behaviour related to HIV are available for the following countries:
A selection of infographics about HIV and AIDS that can be downloaded and printed for project work.
The is the sub-Saharan Africa edition of Teen Talk, a question and answer guide for HIV-positive adolescents, which was adapted from the Botswana version, published in 2010 by the Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence Teen Club Program, and the original version, which was published in the United States in 2004.
The Letlama (Lesotho Together Against HIV and AIDS Partnership) Project aimed to improve the health of the Basotho people by reducing the incidence of HIV infection through the promotion of protective behaviors and support for healthier social norms among young people 15-24 and adults 25-35.
A booklet aimed at parents whose child is HIV positive. It is aimed to be used with children over 9 years of age. The booklet walks the parent through the various steps in telling a child about his/her HIV status, explaining what this means, and emphasizing that being HIV positive is not the child's fault.
This is a booklet for parents talking to their youg HIV positive children about HIV.
This booklet was written for parents of children from 3 to 6 years of age, to help them explain their child's HIV status. At this age, children may ask many questions about why they go to the clinic or why they have to take medicines.
Link Up is a five-country project to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of one million young people most affected by HIV in Bangladesh, Burundi, Ethiopia, Myanmar and Uganda.
This is a set of materials for working with adolescents.
The purposes of the toolkit are:
Fact sheets on adolescent HIV trends, distribution of adolescent AIDS-related deaths, HIV treatment for adolescents, and adolescent knowledge, testing and behaviour related to HIV are available for the following countries:
- Zambia
- Swaziland
- South Africa
- Malawi
- Lesotho
- Zimbabwe
The Children's Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) Literacy Series shares knowledge, facts, and a series of creative and fun activities, centered around children and antiretroviral therapy. The series primarily targets children aged 6-12 living with HIV, though much of its content is also appropriate for older adolescents.
This is the participant's workbook for Zimbabwe's Ministry of Health and Child Welfare HIV Testing and Counselling for Children Training Course. The object of this training material is to ensure that counsellors are able to provide children with quality HIV Testing and Counselling services, follow up care, and support services.
The Adolescent Job Aid is a handy desk reference tool for health workers (trained and registered doctors, nurses and clinical officers) who provide services to children, adolescents and adults. It aims to help these health workers respond to their adolescent patients more effectively and with greater sensitivity.
Positive Youth is a one hour television documentary which follows four HIV+ positive youth (late teens to 27) in four different North American cities in Cinema vérité style.
