Chronic HIV Care with ARV Therapy and Prevention

This publication was written and produced by the World Health Organization (WHO) as part of the multi-departmental project Integrated Management of Adolescent and Adult Illness/Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMAI/IMCI) to produce guidelines and training materials for first-level facility health workers in low-resource settings using a public health approach. This is one of six IMAI/IMCI guideline modules, relevant for HIV care, designed to be used as both a learning aid and a job aid by nurses, clinical aids, and other multi-purpose health workers.

The document describes the steps taken toward patient enrolment into an HIV care programme and the sequence of steps following positive testing. After providing a high-level summary of the steps of the process and the roles and relationships of involved health workers, the paper breaks down the process steps into individual sets of guidelines, with survey questions, sample forms, and criteria definitions to help care providers choose appropriate treatment methods. Sections on positive prevention and special considerations for children provide further guidance on counselling and paediatric care.

Among the processes defined by this document are communication-related guidelines including:

• Education and support for the patient;
• Assessment of family status;
• Clinical care provision, including recommendations and treatment plan agreements;
• Positive prevention counselling;
• Psychological support for HIV-infected children; and
• Prevention and care for health workers and lay providers.

For more information, contact:
IMAI/IMCI
HIV/AIDS Department
World Health Organization
imaimail@who.int