Group counselling turns the corner for ABYM

Adolescent and young men (AYM) aged 15 to 29 are the most under-tested and most under-treated demographic in the national HIV cascade. They show up late, present sicker, and disengage faster. Closing this gap requires more than open clinic doors — it requires a counselling style built around their language, schedules, and concerns.

EpiC trained forty-eight community counsellors in adolescent-and-youth-male-friendly counselling, with curriculum modules covering masculinity norms, partner violence prevention, substance use brief intervention, and the biomedical prevention menu.

Over the quarter, 1,260 AYM were counselled — at football pitches, boda-boda stages, fishing landing sites, and youth-friendly evening drop-ins. Nine hundred and twenty (73 percent) accepted an HIV test at the point of counselling. Thirty-one tested positive and all thirty-one were linked to ART within seven days.

Two hundred and eight AYM initiated oral PrEP, and 64 accepted referral for substance use brief counselling at council level.

The model is now being adapted by neighbouring councils outside the EpiC catchment. The non-negotiables are clear: evening hours, male counsellors where possible, no waiting in shared facility spaces, and a 'one-stop' service package that does not require a return visit for routine tests.