Halting HIV Among the Population at Highest Risk
The Halt Project targets youth aged 15-24.
In October 2018, Young Heroes launched a three-year project thanks to an $850,000 grant from the UN Global Fund Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The grant came through Eswatini’s Coordinating Assembly of Non-Governmental Organisations (CANGO).
The project aims to halt the spread of HIV and reverse its impact on the Swazi society by targeting youth aged 15–24 years who are out of school or in college.
This is a crucial population to reach, since only 66.1% of those who are infected know their status, which is far lower than the 84.7% seen overall. Of those, only 81.7% are receiving ARVs. Compounding the problem: About one-fourth of those receiving treatment in the younger group are not suppressing their infections.
The project is implemented in seven constituencies: Hhukwini, Maphalaleni, Mayiwane, Mhlume, Nkhaba, Ndzingeni and Ntontozi. It also focuses on five tertiary institutions: University of Eswatini (UNESWA) Luyengo; UNESWA Kwaluseni; UNESWA Mbabane; Limkokwing University, and Eswatini College of Technology (ECOT).
The initiative includes youth health days and events; ongoing groups using the Stepping Stones curriculum; and comprehensive HIV treatment, care and support for adolescents and young adults living with HIV from the communities under the seven constituencies.
As young women who are out of school are at the highest risk for HIV, a special focus on them includes subsidies for tuition and savings groups, where they learn financial management and micro-entrepreneurship.
