Abstract #69  -  Children affected by AIDS: Strengthening families through income support and family-focused services
Authors:   Presenting Author:   Professor Linda Richter - Human Sciences Research Council
Additional Authors:  Professor Lorraine Sherr,
Aim: The Joint Learning Initiative on Children and AIDS (JLICA) was launched in 2006 with the aim of reviewing and synthesizing available evidence on the nature of the problems to be addressed and promising interventions for effective responses at the national level in countries hard hit by the epidemic.
Method / Issue: Over two years, more than 50 research reports were produced and thousands of stakeholders were involved in discussions through conference presentations, website distribution, newsletters, and other forms of dissemination. The work of the JLICA Work was conducted through four learning groups – Learning Group (LG) 1 on Strengthening Families; LG 2 on Community Action; LG 3on Expanded Access to Services, and LG 4 on Social and Economic Policies.
Results / Comments: Learning Group 1 framed the following key JLICA findings: 1. HIV transmission in high, and some low, prevalence countries is concentrated within families and occurs mainly through partner and parental transmission. Similarly, the impact of AIDS is felt most intensively at the family level, and the family is the most important social network for both prevention efforts and mitigation for children. 2. Interventions must target all poor children in heavily HIV affected communities, not only children infected with HIV and those orphaned as a result of AIDS, because all already vulnerable children feel the shockwaves of the epidemic on their communities and the services they receive. 2. Children’s wellbeing can be improved through policies and programmes directed at strengthening families, as well as essential services such as health care and education, because families provide care and protection for children on a daily basis as well as over their lifetime. 3. National social protection policies are a critical lever in family strengthening to improve the care and protection of children. Social protection includes employment and livelihoods, the social wage, and social security 4. Direct income transfers are the most effective and efficient means of improving the health, development and education of vulnerable children. Ensuring that money reaches vulnerable households directly has immediate and long-term benefits for children. For the reasons described, 5. HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care services should attempt to provide integrated care to the whole family. In this paper, we outline the methods of systematic review and integration used in the JLICA, and the evidence on which the key recommendations are based.
Discussion: The paper concludes with an overview of the impact the JLICA findings are having on policy, programmes and practice in this field, and challenges for implementation at the country leve
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