Treatment and research options for paediatric HIV infection in South Africa: Towards improving care

This satellite meeting at the 2nd South African AIDS Conference was organised to facilitate and inspire paediatric networking opportunities within South Africa and Africa. The meeting was a collaborative venture between recipients of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation International Leadership Award (Clive Gray and Tammy Meyers), the African Network for the Care of Children Affected by AIDS (ANECCA) and the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI). The treatment needs of many HIV-infected children in South Africa are not being met, the antiretroviral rollout for children lags behind that of adults, and there are many unanswered clinical and scientific questions that should be addressed by local researchers and scientists to improve paediatric care. The overall purpose of this satellite meeting was to introduce clinical and research networks that are working towards improving the care for HIV-infected children in Africa. More specifically, the objectives of the meeting were: to promote awareness pf paediatric networks functioning in Africa to link seemingly disparate areas of knowledge around treatment and research in immunology and health care, and to facilitate networking through established African paediatric networks