A critical element of HIV prevention, care, and treatment is linking persons who test positive for HIV to care and treatment services. Moreover, it is important to ensure they continue to receive these services over time, not only at the facility level but also in the community or at home. Responding to substantial interest in sharing experiences, strategies, and best practices in this area, AIDSTAR-One and the PEPFAR HIV Care and Support Technical Working Group convened the "Field-Driven Learning Meeting: Linkages to and Retention in HIV Care and Support Programs" from November 3-5, 2010 in Maputo, Mozambique.

Sixty-one participants and presenters from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the US attended the meeting. Participants shared clinic- and community-based experiences across the spectrum of healthcare settings, including diagnostic settings, community settings, non-HIV clinical settings post-diagnosis (i.e., TB centers, ANC clinics), and HIV-specific treatment settings (i.e., pre-ART). Participants addressed opportunities for and challenges to successful linkage and retention, shared emerging practices, and identified country-specific next steps for strengthening linkage and retention in key services, after HIV diagnosis occurs.

View the Summary Report (PDF, 311 KB)

Presentations and other resources from the consultation are available for download below.

Presentations