The IMpact of Vertical HIV infection on child and Adolescent SKeletal development in Harare, Zimbabwe (IMVASK Study): a protocol for a prospective cohort study.

Introduction: The scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has reduced mortality so that increasing numbers of children with HIV (CWH) are surviving to adolescence. However, they experience a range of morbidities due to chronic HIV infection and its treatment. Impaired linear growth (stunting) is a common manifestation, affecting up to 50% of children.