Strengthening Early Infant Diagnosis Implementation

Overview

In 2020, the number of children who acquired HIV in 21 focus countries was nearly three times greater than the UNAIDS framework’s global target. Nigeria, among the top five focus countries, accounted for nearly two-thirds of children who acquired HIV in 2020. The country has a mother-to-child [vertical] transmission rate of 25%. In support of the shared goals to increase overall Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) coverage in Nigeria, Johnson & Johnson funded EGPAF Nigeria’s EID Optimization project which was implemented in 11 comprehensive health facilities in Rivers and Taraba States.

The project aimed to provide technical assistance to increase overall EID coverage by leveraging existing resources including the current EID testing platforms, EID sample and result processing logistics, and the support network of Mentor Mothers. The project objectives were to: 1) identify key barriers in the EID cascade in the two states then, 2) utilize EGPAF’s validated Program Optimization Approach (POA) to train and support health providers to apply Quality Improvement (QI) approaches to the identified gaps and, finally, 3) share promising tools and resources for adaptation in other similar settings. These activities culminated in generating evidence including a toolkit to strengthen national EID implementation.