Facilitating HIV testing, care and treatment for orphans and vulnerable children aged five years and younger through community-based early childhood development playcenters in rural Zimbabwe

Early diagnosis of children living with HIV is a prerequisite for accessing timely paediatric HIV care and treatment services and for optimizing treatment outcomes. Testing of HIV-exposed infants at 6 weeks and later is part of the national prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV programme in Zimbabwe, but many opportunities to test infants and children are being missed. This article researches and studies the affects of sixteen rural community-based, community-run playcenters which were established to provide health, nutritional, and psychosocial support for orphans and vulnerable children aged 5 years and younger. These centers provided HIV testing and strengthened comprehensive care for the children.