Postgraduate Diploma in HIV/AIDS Management
Develop the analytical and management skills needed to plan, coordinate and evaluate HIV programmes in workplaces, communities and health-service settings.
About the course
Develop the analytical and management skills needed to plan, coordinate and evaluate HIV programmes in workplaces, communities and health-service settings. You will connect epidemiological evidence with human rights, inclusive service delivery, organisational leadership and sustainable financing. Cases from South Africa, Zimbabwe and the wider Southern African region support an applied programme improvement project.
What you'll learn
- Interpret HIV evidence and identify programme priorities.
- Design inclusive, rights-based policies and community responses.
- Coordinate prevention, care and referral pathways within professional boundaries.
- Develop a costed implementation plan and assess sustainability risks.
- Design ethical research, monitoring and evaluation arrangements.
- Present an integrated, evidence-based HIV programme improvement proposal.
Requirements
Entry requires a relevant bachelor’s degree or an assessed equivalent. English Language is required. BMIT assesses any professional registration, prior practice or supervised-placement requirement specific to this postgraduate diploma.
African Kalanga is a compulsory graduation subject in every year of this programme. BMIT confirms the approved entry route, any recognition of prior learning and access to required practical facilities before enrolment.
Course Content
Complete all six compulsory subjects across three learning stages over a planned one-year full-time study route. Each stage contains two subjects. Stage 1 develops the evidence base and social context. Stage 2 addresses policy and coordinated services. Stage 3 combines leadership, financing, research and evaluation in an integrated capstone dossier. Assessment is continuous through individual applied assignments, case analysis and presentations. This management qualification does not confer clinical registration or prescribing authority.
3 learning levels 11 subjects
Select a subject to read its learning outcomes, main topics, practical task and assessment.
Level 1: Evidence and social context
Africa Indigenous Language: African Kalanga 101Compulsory graduation subject · Year 1
Develop African Kalanga through foundations for medicine and other health sciences. Practise with authentic tasks, feedback and reflection across the programme year.
Learning outcomes
- Use African Kalanga accurately for Year 1 study and practice.
- Explain language choices to the intended audience.
- Revise your work using speaker and facilitator feedback.
Main topics
- Pronunciation
- Everyday vocabulary
- Listening
- Reading and respectful introductions
Practical task
Record a short introduction and explain its meaning to a peer.
Assessment
Submit the practical work, a brief reflection and evidence of language review. Assessment checks meaning, audience fit and improvement after feedback.
Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation 101Compulsory core module · Level 1
Identify a real need, study the people affected and develop a responsible idea for a product, service or process. Apply critical analysis and relevant research to a specialist setting. Apply this learning to Postgraduate Diploma in HIV/AIDS Management through an authentic brief and feedback from an appropriate audience.
Learning outcomes
- Investigate a defined opportunity and explain the evidence behind it.
- Develop and refine a creative response that fits the people and setting.
- Evaluate feasibility, ethical implications and the quality of the result.
Main topics
- Opportunity recognition
- Creative problem framing
- Community and user research
- Ethics and inclusion
- Idea generation and selection
Practical task
Investigate a need related to Postgraduate Diploma in HIV/AIDS Management. Interview or observe intended users with consent, compare possible responses and present one justified concept.
Assessment
Submit an opportunity brief, research notes, a concept sketch and a reflection on feedback. Support your decisions with current research and a critical account of limitations. Assessment considers the quality of the evidence, the response to feedback, feasibility and your individual explanation.
African History and Pan Africanism 101Compulsory core module · Level 1
Study African history through oral, written and archaeological evidence. Examine the diversity of African societies, knowledge and exchange, then trace the emergence of Pan African ideas about identity, solidarity and self-determination.
Learning outcomes
- Place selected African societies and events within a supported historical timeline.
- Compare historical sources and identify perspective, evidence and uncertainty.
- Explain the foundations of Pan Africanism and the contributions of Africans and the diaspora.
Main topics
- Historical inquiry, chronology, oral traditions and source evaluation
- African civilisations, states, trade, livelihoods and knowledge systems
- Southern African history, including Mapungubgwe and Great Zimbabwe
- Slavery, the African diaspora and changing ideas about identity
- Origins of Pan Africanism, solidarity, self-determination and cultural expression
Practical task
Create an annotated timeline or digital learning poster on a selected African society or historical development. Compare at least two credible sources and explain one connection with your field of study.
Assessment
Submit the timeline or poster, an annotated source list and a short explanation of the evidence. Assessment considers chronology, historical accuracy, source judgement and the clarity of your interpretation.
Learning resources
HIV Epidemiology and the Southern African ResponseCompulsory
Interpret the evidence used to plan and review HIV programmes. Examine patterns of HIV, the distinction between HIV infection and AIDS, and the social and economic consequences of the epidemic. Compare South African and Zimbabwean responses while recognising differences in data sources, populations and service systems.
Learning outcomes
- Interpret common HIV indicators without confusing population estimates with individual outcomes.
- Critically compare trends from different data sources and periods.
- Identify service gaps and explain the limitations of available evidence.
- Prepare an evidence-based needs assessment for a defined programme.
Main topics
- HIV and AIDS concepts for programme managers
- Incidence, prevalence, mortality and denominators
- Transmission and prevention principles
- Testing, treatment coverage and viral suppression indicators
- Surveillance, estimates and uncertainty
- Poverty, migration and economic effects
- Country and district needs assessment
Practical task
Use public aggregate data or a supplied synthetic dataset to prepare a district HIV situation analysis. Include an indicator table, two accessible charts, a data-quality appraisal and three justified programme priorities. Do not collect identifiable health information.
Assessment
Submit the situation analysis and an individual interpretation exercise. Assessment considers indicator accuracy, appropriate comparisons, transparent uncertainty and the justification of priorities.
Social Determinants, Gender and Community ResponsesCompulsory
Analyse how social conditions and institutional practices shape HIV vulnerability and access to services. Examine stigma, gender inequality and barriers experienced by different communities without treating any population as homogeneous. Develop respectful, participatory responses with people living with HIV and community organisations.
Learning outcomes
- Explain how social and structural factors affect access to HIV services.
- Assess a programme for exclusion, stigma and unequal power.
- Design an accessible community-engagement approach.
- Develop respectful communication and measures for reviewing its effectiveness.
Main topics
- Stigma and discrimination
- Gender, sexuality and power
- Poverty, mobility and service access
- Adolescents and life-course needs
- Key populations and inclusive services
- Community-led responses
- Health literacy and culturally responsive communication
Practical task
Prepare a community-engagement and stigma-reduction plan for a fictional Southern African workplace or community programme. Include a stakeholder map, an accessible communication example and a method for incorporating participant feedback.
Assessment
Submit the plan, communication example and a critical reflection. Assessment considers inclusion, respectful language, feasibility and the quality of the proposed feedback process.
Level 2: Policy and coordinated services
Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation 201Compulsory core module · Level 2
Turn a promising idea into a testable proposal using evidence, creative methods and basic resource planning. Apply critical analysis and relevant research to a specialist setting. Apply this learning to Postgraduate Diploma in HIV/AIDS Management through an authentic brief and feedback from an appropriate audience.
Learning outcomes
- Investigate a defined opportunity and explain the evidence behind it.
- Develop and refine a creative response that fits the people and setting.
- Evaluate feasibility, ethical implications and the quality of the result.
Main topics
- Co-design and prototyping
- Value proposition
- Feasibility and costs
- Risk and responsible practice
- Testing and iteration
Practical task
Develop a small prototype or service model for a Postgraduate Diploma in HIV/AIDS Management problem. Test it with relevant users, record feedback and revise the proposal.
Assessment
Submit a prototype, a feasibility note, user feedback and a record of revisions. Support your decisions with current research and a critical account of limitations. Assessment considers the quality of the evidence, the response to feedback, feasibility and your individual explanation.
HIV Policy, Human Rights and Workplace PracticeCompulsory
Translate HIV-policy principles into practical organisational arrangements. Compare relevant national approaches and examine confidentiality, consent, non-discrimination and accountability. Distinguish policy analysis from legal advice and identify when specialist review is required.
Learning outcomes
- Analyse an HIV policy against its stated objectives and rights commitments.
- Draft a coherent workplace or organisational HIV policy.
- Identify privacy, consent and accountability requirements.
- Develop an implementation and review process with clear responsibilities.
Main topics
- National and regional HIV strategies
- Rights and non-discrimination
- Consent, confidentiality and health-data governance
- Workplace HIV policies and employee support
- Community participation and advocacy
- Policy implementation, complaints and review
Practical task
Draft an HIV policy for a fictional employer or community organisation. Provide a policy-gap analysis, a responsibilities table, confidential referral arrangements and a consultation plan. Cite the jurisdiction and date of each legal or policy source in your assessment submission.
Assessment
Submit the policy and implementation brief, followed by an individual case-based assessment. Assessment considers consistency, rights protection, contextual accuracy and practical accountability.
HIV Prevention, Treatment and Care Programme CoordinationCompulsory
Plan services supporting prevention, timely linkage to care and continuity of treatment. Examine person-centred service arrangements, referral pathways and the integration of HIV services with other health and social support. The focus is programme coordination, with clinical decisions remaining within qualified practitioners’ scope.
Learning outcomes
- Map a care pathway and identify avoidable access barriers.
- Develop a coordination plan linking clinical and community services.
- Explain how adherence support and referral systems contribute to continuity of care.
- Design a quality-improvement response within a programme manager’s responsibilities.
Main topics
- Combination prevention and testing pathways
- Linkage, retention and adherence support
- Prevention of vertical transmission and family support
- Coordination with TB, sexual and reproductive health services
- Mental health and noncommunicable disease integration
- Differentiated and community-based service delivery
- Medication-safety reporting and referral
- Service continuity and quality improvement
Practical task
Map a fictional HIV service pathway from initial contact to ongoing support. Identify three points where people risk losing access, then design a referral and follow-up improvement plan with responsibilities, safeguards and measurable service indicators.
Assessment
Submit the service map and improvement plan, and present a multidisciplinary case discussion. Assessment considers continuity, accessibility, appropriate professional boundaries and measurable improvement.
Level 3: Programme leadership and evaluation
Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation 301Compulsory core module · Level 3
Plan and evaluate the practical introduction of an innovation in a relevant organisation or community. Apply critical analysis and relevant research to a specialist setting. Apply this learning to Postgraduate Diploma in HIV/AIDS Management through an authentic brief and feedback from an appropriate audience.
Learning outcomes
- Investigate a defined opportunity and explain the evidence behind it.
- Develop and refine a creative response that fits the people and setting.
- Evaluate feasibility, ethical implications and the quality of the result.
Main topics
- Implementation planning
- Stakeholder engagement
- Resources and finance
- Monitoring and impact
- Learning from a pilot
Practical task
Prepare and defend a pilot plan for an innovation relevant to Postgraduate Diploma in HIV/AIDS Management. Set measures of success, identify risks and explain how results will guide improvement.
Assessment
Submit a pilot plan, budget assumptions, evaluation measures and an individual rationale. Support your decisions with current research and a critical account of limitations. Assessment considers the quality of the evidence, the response to feedback, feasibility and your individual explanation.
Leadership, Financing and Sustainable HIV ProgrammesCompulsory
Manage the people, resources and partnerships needed for a sustainable HIV response. Connect ethical leadership and workforce support with realistic budgets, implementation plans and arrangements for maintaining essential services during funding or operational disruption.
Learning outcomes
- Develop a costed HIV programme implementation plan.
- Allocate responsibilities and identify workforce support needs.
- Compare financing options and their sustainability risks.
- Propose continuity measures and transparent accountability arrangements.
Main topics
- Ethical leadership and organisational culture
- Strategic planning and stakeholder partnerships
- Workforce support and employee assistance
- Programme costing and budget controls
- Procurement and supply continuity governance
- Resource mobilisation and funding transitions
- Risk management and service continuity
- Community accountability
Practical task
Prepare a one-year implementation and financing plan for a fictional workplace or community HIV programme. Include a budget with stated assumptions, a staffing and partnership plan, a risk register and a service-continuity scenario.
Assessment
Submit the management portfolio and defend a revised budget scenario. Assessment considers affordability, ethical judgement, operational coherence and the treatment of uncertainty.
Applied Research, Monitoring and Evaluation of HIV ProgrammesCompulsory
Develop a feasible research and evaluation approach for an HIV programme. Connect a clear programme theory with appropriate measures, ethical data collection and careful interpretation. Integrate the preceding subjects in an evaluation-ready improvement proposal.
Learning outcomes
- Formulate a focused research or evaluation question.
- Justify methods suited to the question and available resources.
- Develop a monitoring framework with operational indicator definitions.
- Interpret findings without overstating causation.
- Produce an integrated programme improvement proposal and evaluation plan.
Main topics
- Research questions and critical evidence review
- Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods
- Theory of change and programme logic
- Indicators, baselines, targets and data quality
- Process, outcome and equity evaluation
- Ethics, consent and confidentiality
- Community-led monitoring
- Learning, reporting and use of findings
Practical task
Build a capstone dossier for one fictional or approved HIV programme. Include a short evidence review, theory of change, indicator matrix, research protocol, data-protection plan and a worked analysis using public aggregate or synthetic data. Integrate the policy, care-pathway and financing work completed earlier. Research involving people requires prior institutional approval and informed consent.
Assessment
Submit the capstone dossier and complete an individual oral presentation. Assessment considers methodological coherence, ethical safeguards, evidence quality, integration across subjects and practical use of findings.
Practical Learning
Authentic e-learning at BMIT
BMIT uses Authentic E-Learning to connect your studies with practical problems in your field. You use digital resources to investigate a realistic brief, make decisions and produce work for a defined purpose and audience. Your qualification's activities below put this approach into practice.
How you will learn
The approach draws on nine elements of authentic learning:
- Realistic contexts: Work with situations relevant to your profession or community.
- Purposeful tasks: Investigate a substantial problem with more than one possible solution.
- Expert examples: Examine demonstrations and examples of professional reasoning.
- Different perspectives: Compare sources and consider the needs of different people.
- Collaboration: Share ideas and review work with peers, while showing your own contribution.
- Reflection: Record what worked, what changed and what needs improvement.
- Explanation: Present your reasoning and support your decisions with evidence.
- Guidance: Use tutor feedback and structured support as you develop independence.
- Authentic assessment: Demonstrate learning through the task and its practical outcome.
From a brief to a practical outcome
Start by identifying the problem, intended audience and assessment criteria. Investigate relevant evidence, plan your response and develop an initial solution. Use discussion and feedback to test your ideas, then revise your work and explain your choices.
Digital tools support research, collaboration, simulation and the presentation of evidence. Your output depends on the module. Examples include a business proposal, technical design, tested program, investigation report or community resource. Keep drafts, calculations, test results and reflections to show how your work developed.
The module brief sets the required tasks, individual and group responsibilities, submission format and assessment criteria. The practical activities and supervision requirements for this qualification are set out below.
Research informing this approach
- Herrington, J. Authentic Learning: nine elements of authentic learning.
- Lombardi, M. M. (2007). Authentic learning for the 21st century: An overview. EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative.
- Parker, J., Maor, D. and Herrington, J. (2013). Authentic online learning: Aligning learner needs, pedagogy and technology. Issues in Educational Research, 23(2), 227–241.
Use guided online cases and simulations to practise decisions. Clinical or patient-facing tasks require approved facilities and supervision.
What you will practise
- Social Determinants, Gender and Community Responses: Prepare a community-engagement and stigma-reduction plan for a fictional Southern African workplace or community programme. Include a stakeholder map, an accessible communication example and a method for incorporating participant feedback.
- HIV Prevention, Treatment and Care Programme Coordination: Map a fictional HIV service pathway from initial contact to ongoing support. Identify three points where people risk losing access, then design a referral and follow-up improvement plan with responsibilities, safeguards and measurable service indicators.
- Applied Research, Monitoring and Evaluation of HIV Programmes: Build a capstone dossier for one fictional or approved HIV programme. Include a short evidence review, theory of change, indicator matrix, research protocol, data-protection plan and a worked analysis using public aggregate or synthetic data. Integrate the policy, care-pathway and financing work completed earlier. Research involving people requires prior institutional approval and informed consent.
Projects, evidence and safeguards
Complete the applied assignment for each of the six subjects. The submissions build towards one capstone dossier: a needs assessment, community-engagement plan, organisational policy, service improvement plan, costed implementation plan and research and evaluation framework. Individual case assessments and presentations establish your own understanding and contribution.
Assessment considers evidence quality, contextual accuracy, rights and ethical judgement, feasibility, financial reasoning and clarity of communication. Use public aggregate or synthetic data unless specific approval permits another source. Do not submit identifiable patient records or disclose anyone’s HIV status. Projects involving people require prior ethics approval and informed consent. Clinical practice is governed by professional registration and current local protocols.
African History and Pan Africanism practical learning
- African History and Pan Africanism 101: Create an annotated timeline or digital learning poster on a selected African society or historical development. Compare at least two credible sources and explain one connection with your field of study.
Career Prospects
These examples show work across this qualification pathway, from support roles to specialist and management posts. Your entry point depends on your study, experience and employer requirements. Regulated roles require separate recognition or registration.
Top Career Paths and Job Titles
- HIV programme assistant: Maintains outreach, referral and service records.
- HIV programme coordinator: Organises prevention, care and community partnerships.
- HIV monitoring analyst: Checks indicators, treatment-continuity data and service gaps.
- HIV policy adviser: Uses evidence to improve equitable programme delivery.
- HIV programme manager: Guides staff, budgets, safeguards and evaluation.
Growth and Leadership Trajectory
- Starting practice: After meeting entry and any registration requirements, begin with the work represented by HIV programme assistant. Build supervised experience and keep a record of reliable work.
- Specialist progression: Relevant study and evidence from more complex projects support a move towards HIV programme coordinator or HIV monitoring analyst.
- Leadership: With substantial experience, a role such as HIV programme manager adds responsibility for people, quality, budgets or service decisions.
Further Education to Boost Prospects
- Next study step: A relevant master’s degree in HIV programme management is a possible next step. Research preparation or bridging study may be required.
- Continue at BMIT: Master of Public and Environmental Health (MPH) Admission and any credit transfer are assessed separately.
Professional Certifications and Registrations
- Role-specific requirements: No single statutory credential covers every role in HIV programme management. Employers may require a relevant short course, supervised experience or role-specific licence. Check the requirements for the job and country before applying.
Potential Government and Industrial Employers
- Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management: Start or manage a small venture related to this field. Regulated work still requires the relevant professional registration or licence.
- Private and commercial organisations: Hospitals and health-service networks.
- Specialist employers: Health NGOs and development agencies.
- Research and community organisations: Health research and advisory firms.
- Government departments and public bodies: Health departments and public-health programmes.