ICAP Collaborative Pediatric HIV Strategic Planning Workshop

From April 15-19, 2007, representatives from eight ICAP country offices (Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, and Tanzania) gathered at Stellenbosch University in Capetown, South Africa, for the first ICAP Collaborative Pediatric HIV Strategic Planning Workshop, organized by ICAP and the South-to-South Partnership for Comprehensive Pediatric HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment.  The goal of the workshop was to facilitate the successful design and implementation of ICAP Pediatric HIV/AIDS workplans.

Specific objectives included:

• Describe and outline ICAP Pediatric Model of Care
• Design country-specific action-oriented Pediatric HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan
• Review current technical/scientific pediatric HIV updates by program element
• Share experiences, lessons learned, successes and failures across ICAP programs
• Problem-solve and design strategies to address country-specific pediatric HIV challenges
• Acquire the basic skills to mentor and support site-level staff to implement pediatric HIV services

Most of the workshop sessions were composed of one or more of the following sub-sessions:

• Scientific or programmatic update
• Description and discussion of ICAP Approach
• Country Experience & Challenges
• Country Team Strategizing

These proceedings are based on workshop presentations, question and answer sessions, and working groups.  Included are summaries of the following:

• Country-specific Workplans
• Session 1: Entry Points for Pediatric HIV Services and Identifying HIV Positive Children
• Session 2: ICAP Pediatric Care and Treatment Package 
• Session 3: MTCT-Plus: a Family Perspective 
• Session 4: Infant Follow-up and Early Infant Diagnosis 
• Session 5:  Infant Feeding
• Session 6: Pediatric Adherence to Care and Treatment and Pediatric Disclosure 
• Session 7: Treatment of TB/HIV Co-infection: Overview and Technical Update 
• Session 8: Pediatric Clinical Mentoring Overview 
• Session 9: Open Space Technology
• Session 10: Transforming Strategy into Action in the Field
• Next Steps

Participants outlined the ICAP Pediatric Model of Care and reviewed country experiences and challenges in the delivery of pediatric HIV/AIDS care and treatment, touching on a variety of issues including early infant diagnosis and infant feeding. 

Country-specific Workplans

During the workshop there were 7 organized country-specific workplanning meetings, during which country teams designed or enhanced country-specific pediatric HIV/AIDS strategic plans for 2007-08, a process which is to continue in each country after the workshop’s end.  Each workplanning meeting included, at least, all country team members, a senior program officer from ICAP-New York, and a US-based pediatric consultant.  Each workplanning session focused on the topic area just presented and discussed with the large group.  Country groups focused on:

• Ways to improve the program element/process and identifying realistic solutions to challenges
• Identifying technical assistance and data needs
  
  

Overview

Overview of Global Pediatric HIV Agenda: Mark Cotton, MD, Director of
South-to-South, and Elaine Abrams, MD, Director of the MTCT-Plus Initiative, outlined meeting objectives, goals, and context related to building capacity in respective country programs to care for children and families with HIV.