The ZICS-BOOST trial was a 1-year research project funded at US$297,567, aimed at evaluating the impact of a bi-weekly, home-based early childhood development (ECD) intervention, adapted from UNICEF’s Nurturing Care Framework on neurodevelopmental outcomes among Children HIV-exposed but uninfected (CHEUs) in Zambia. The randomized controlled trial involved 469 participants, comparing CHEUs receiving the intervention with those receiving usual care. A total of 464 children were reached through the study, which utilized tools such as MDAT, CREDI, and eye-tracking to assess development, alongside caregiver mental health evaluations. The use of eye-tracking proved to be a valuable and objective method for measuring neurodevelopment. Additionally, the trial contributed to international dialogue on child development through staff participation in an ECD conference in Lesotho. The findings provided Zambia with critical insights and a practical approach to supporting early childhood development for vulnerable populations, highlighting HIV exposure as a significant developmental risk factor and informing scalable ECD strategies within national child health and development policies.
