Recruiting the first peer educator cohort

EpiC's prevention model rests on a simple premise: the most reliable bridge between a hidden, criminalised, or stigmatised population and a clinic is another person from that same community. In the launch quarter ASUTA prioritised the recruitment of peer educators because every downstream activity — testing, linkage, retention, and adherence support — depends on whether KVPs trust the person knocking on their door.

Recruitment was deliberately community-led. KVP-friendly drop-in centres in Lindi Municipal and Kilwa nominated candidates. ASUTA then ran a transparent vetting process anchored on three criteria: lived experience, communication ability, and a demonstrated willingness to keep client information confidential.

Seventy-two peer educators — 41 women and 31 men — were enrolled across the six councils. The five-day residential training covered HIV biomedical basics, oral PrEP and PEP eligibility, HIV self-testing (HIVST), gender-based violence first-line response, motivational interviewing, and the EpiC data tools.

Sixty-eight peers (94 percent) completed the full curriculum and passed the closing competency assessment. The four who did not complete were referred to a make-up cohort scheduled for the following month — no peer was dropped without a second chance.

Peers were paired with outreach workers and deployed to twelve priority wards identified during the mapping exercise. Each peer carries a monthly micro-target of fifty individual contacts and ten group sessions, supported by a weekly debrief with the council's DACC.

Early indicators are encouraging. In the first month, peers facilitated 2,140 KVP contacts, 612 HIV tests, and 38 new positive identifications, with 36 of those (95 percent) linked to treatment within seven days.