Operational guidelines on HIV testing and counselling of infants, children and adolescents for service providers in the African region
This document is designed to provide practical, technical and operational guidance for the delivery of HTC services for infants, children and adolescents in Africa. It is intended for use of programme managers at national, district and community levels and service providers at various entry points into the health-care system, which infants, children and adolescents are most likely to access.
The entry points described in the guide include; HIV and STI clinics, antenatal care (ANC ), labour wards and delivery services. Other entry points include Immunization services, any clinical care service for children and adolescents including Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI ) facilities, malnutrition wards and outpatient services, tuberculosis (TB) clinics and inpatient facilities, reproductive health and family planning programmes that also provide services to adolescents, post-natal clinics and community/home-based care services.
This guide also contains simple frameworks for the implementation of efficient, quality HIV testing services integrated into an already existing public health system with diagrams and algorithms which are easy to understand.