Interlinking Clinics, Schools, and Communities in HIV Treatment

There are currently 1.7 million adolescents (10-19) and 3.3 million young people (15-24) currently living with HIV in the world, as of 2020.

Recognizing the urgent needs of adolescents facing the HIV epidemic, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), with support from ViiV Healthcare, developed and implemented the Red Carpet Project in Kenya. This project, based on the Red Carpet entry into care program implemented in Washington, D.C., aimed to fast-track peer-designed linkage to care and early retention, with interlinked facility and community-level components. The target population for this approach included female and male adolescents and youth living with HIV within two age subgroups: adolescents 15–19 years of age and youth 20–21 years of age.

Because these age groups spend the majority of their lives in school settings, the Red Carpet Project uses a school-based approach. It brings expertise in the management of a chronic illness in a high-risk population together with the educational system that these young people are engaged in. 

Twenty-five schools and 50 health facilities in Kenya participated in this project.rn

During the pilot stage, the proportion of adolescent and youth clients who were linked to care within the Kenya-implemented project increased from 56.5% to 97.3% (p < .001).rn

Compared with the pre-implementation cohort, retention on antiretroviral therapy for the post-implementation cohort increased from 66.0% to 90.0% at three months (p <.001), and from 54.4% to 98.6% at six months (p < .001).

Related Resources

Supporting adolescents living with HIV within boarding schools in Kenya