Point-of-care testing can achieve same-day diagnosis for infants and rapid ART initiation: results from government programmes across six African countries.

Same-day diagnosis and treatment initiation for infants is possible with POC EID within routine government-led and -supported public sector healthcare facilities in resource-limited settings. Given that POC EID allows for rapid ART initiation, aligning to the World Health Organization's recommendation of ART initiation within seven days, its use in public sector programmes has the potential to reduce overall mortality for infants with HIV through early treatment initiation.