Galvanizing Religious Leaders for Accelerated Identification & Linkage to Pediatric ART Project - I

The intervention was implemented through religious leaders in 21 states spread across the Southeast, Southwest, Northeast and Northcentral zones.

These clergymen were trained on pastoral and scientific considerations in HIV pathology and subsequently delivered audience-appropriate HIV/AIDS prevention and stigma reduction messaging to their congregations.

In addition, these “activated” clergy served as a bridge between identified health centres and their congregations by leading a team of Church Health Advisors (ideally serving or retired health workers and volunteers) who will target high-risk mother and child pairs by tracking: (1) immunization status; (2) recurrence of symptoms of communicable diseases like fevers, diarrheal disease, respiratory tract infection and skin infections assisted by a screening tool like the Bandason Checklist; and (3) provide or refer for HIV testing and counselling and ART initiation where indicated