Access to and Use of HIV Testing Services Among Adolescents Aged 10 to 19 Living on the Streets in Côte d’Ivoire.

Adolescents living on the street (ALS) face challenges that make them particularly vulnerable to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in a context of early sexual debut, sex work, and lack of access to health care and services. Their lifestyle exposes them to psychological harm and makes them vulnerable in terms of access to health services—particularly prevention, testing, and treatment for HIV and other STIs.  
In Côte d’Ivoire, these young people often find themselves on the margins of the health care system and rarely receive the health care they need. Very little data exists on the proportion of street adolescents who have undergone voluntary HIV testing. The aim of this study is to contribute to improving access to and utilization of HIV and other STI testing services by adolescents living on the streets. More specifically, this study aims to improve the HIV and STI testing and care cascade among adolescents in Côte d’Ivoire.
This study will take place over 24 months among street-living adolescents aged 10 to 19 in Côte d’Ivoire, recruited through an NGO working with street-living children. A peer-based outreach approach will be used, with community counselors from the NGO inviting street-living adolescents to get tested for HIV and to become youth mobilizers responsible for recruiting their peers for testing. For AVRs who test positive for HIV, community workers and peer mobilizers will be responsible for referring them to HIV care and treatment services. AVRs who receive a syndromic diagnosis of other STIs will be treated on-site by the project team’s healthcare staff.