2025 THRIVE CAB Meeting Recap

In March 2025, AFROCAB hosted the second annual THRIVE Community Advisory Board (CAB) Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, to reflect on the progress made in community engagement workstreams during the first year of the project and align on key areas of focus for the second year of the project.

The core objectives of the meeting were to review the achievements, challenges, and lessons learned through implementing activities, including cross-country experience sharing. Additionally, the teams trained THRIVE community leaders on the technical and clinical aspects of advanced HIV disease (AHD), with a focus on diagnostics and differentiated care. Strengthening partnerships among CAB members, AHD Champions and Facilitators, AFROCAB staff, and technical partners encouraged close collaboration across the THRIVE consortium. Finally, strategies to overcome implementation barriers and scale interventions were discussed collaboratively, leading to a comprehensive implementation plan for community engagement workstreams.

In addition to consortium partners and CAB members, AHD Champions and Facilitators from all 5 THRIVE focal countries attended the meeting. This brought an important perspective, particularly in discussions around the impact of the USG funding changes. Champions and facilitators play an important role in relaying facility-level impact and updates to central consortium staff, allowing holistic insights to inform interventions. Champions and facilitators also participated in training sessions to ensure the work being done in communities and facilities is uniformly tracked and can inform qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis.

Interactive sessions evaluated retention of content, addressed gaps in knowledge, provided opportunities to answer questions and discuss case studies, and drove planning for community engagement workstreams. Participants completed pre- and post-tests to evaluate knowledge gains in AHD core competencies, with an average post-test score of 86%.

In addition to the learning sessions, many interactive sessions focused on community experiences and learnings that grounded the week in practical considerations and community perspectives. A panel discussion on the impact of the recent US Government stop work order allowed AHD champions and CAB members to share their experiences at local facilities and with patients most affected by these changes.

Meeting attendees also broke into small groups to ideate on key challenges that have emerged since project kickoff, including how best to support timely referrals within and beyond health facilities, adapting to the changing needs of community-led monitoring, training needed to upskill community cadres during this transitionary period for health workforces, and ensuring accurate and timely information-sharing.

Following the meeting, the next key steps include implementing facility-level screening and tracking tools designed to monitor progress and inform reporting. Additionally, it is essential to reconvene with in-country partners to finalize context-specific approaches for IEC materials and DSD interventions. Furthermore, a meeting will be hosted with the Fight AIDS Coalition (FAC) and the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) to align on advocacy priorities for the year.

This meeting was funded by Unitaid, whose generous support of the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI)-led THRIVE Project is enabling access to critical prevention, screening, and treatment commodities for advanced HIV disease to dramatically reduce mortality among adults and children living with HIV. In partnership with CHAI through this project, AFROCAB is leading community and civil society engagement in collaboration with global and local stakeholders.