Evaluation of the effectiveness of an outreach clinical mentoring programme in support of paediatric HIV care scale-up in Botswana.

Clinical mentoring by providers skilled in HIV management has been identified as a cornerstone of scaling-up antiretroviral treatment in Africa, particularly in settings where expertise is limited. However, little data exist on its effectiveness and impact on improving the quality-of-care and clinical outcomes, especially for HIV-infected children. Since 2008, the Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence (COE) has operated an outreach mentoring programme at clinical sites around Botswana.