Special webinar to present the challenges and lessons learned from community-based HIV testing by lay providers in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa.
The session is in French without simultaneous interpretation.
Meeting ID: 875 4373 0223
Passcode: 604863
Organizers/partners
- WHO Global HIV, Hepatitis and STIs Programmes
- UNAIDS
- Coalition PLUS
Objectives
- Presentation of WHO guidance and global data on community-based HIV testing delivered by lay providers
- Presentation of Global Fund priorities in for Grant Cycle 7 (GC7)
- Sharing of experiences and lessons learned on the adoption and deployment of community-based HIV testing by lay providers in various French-speaking countries, by Coalition PLUS, civil society organizations (CSOs) and Ministries of Health (MoH).
Agenda
7 June 2023 | 11:00-12:30 UTC (13:00-14:30 CEST)
Moderator: Mach-Houd KOUTON, (WCA Regional Advisor - Science, systems and services, UNAIDS)
| Session title | Presenter | Time |
| Welcome | Mach-Houd KOUTON, (WCA Regional Advisor - Science, systems and services, UNAIDS) | 5 min |
| Context and guidance for community-based HIV testing by lay providers | Pascal EBY (Regional Advisor Strategic Information for WCA in Practice Data for Impact, UNAIDS) Anne BEKELYNCK (WHO HQ, Consultant on HIV testing services) Serge DOUOMONG YOTTA (Advocacy Director, Coalition PLUS) | 15 min |
| Lay provider HIV testing in the next Global Fund grant | David MAMAN, (HIV Technical Advisor, Global Fund) | 10 min |
| The need for collaboration between public and community actors: the example of Mauritania | Djibril SY (President, SOS Pairs Éducateurs) | 10 min |
| The contribution of community actors to a diversified HIV testing strategy: the example of Côte d'Ivoire | Dr KOUAME, (Head of HIV testing department, PNLS Côte d'Ivoire) | 10 min |
| Integrated community-led HIV/HCV testing strategies: the example of ALCS in Morocco | Dr Lahoucine OUARSAS (Director of ALCS Programs, Co-coordinator of the Coalition PLUS MENA Platform) | 10 min |
| Lessons learned from CSOs in the Coalition PLUS network | Estelle TIPHONNET (Capitalization and Knowledge Director, Coalition PLUS) | 10 min |
| Discussions | 20 min | |
| Total | 90 min |
Background
Since 2015, WHO has recommended HIV testing conducted by lay providers as an HIV testing approach. In this way, these trained and supervised actors can autonomously provide safe and effective HIV testing services (HTS) using rapid diagnostic tests (WHO 2015). Service delivery with this approach has been shown to be accurate, reliable, more widely accepted and to reach a significant number of first-time testers (people never screened before), as well as populations less reached by conventional HTS, such as men and key populations. However, in many French-speaking African countries, the adoption and deployment of community-based HIV testing by lay providers is not yet in place, and significant obstacles to legal adoption, operationalization and scaling-up exist across many programmes.
UNAIDS, WHO and Coalition PLUS have therefore decided to organize a series of two webinars on the theme of HIV testing conducted by lay-providers in French-speaking African countries, to strengthen both advocacy and strategies to foster its adoption and inclusion in response framework documents and subsequent funding requests (1st webinar, June 7, 2023) as well as to address more technical and operational considerations to help countries (public and community actors) in implementation (2nd webinar, July 2023, date to be confirmed).