Progress towards global targets for antiretroviral therapy (ART) in children has lagged behind that for adults. Mortality among infants who received HIV via vertical transmission and do not receive treatment peaks at 2–3 months of age, highlighting the importance of early diagnosis and ART.1 However, in low-income and middle-income countries, only 63% of infants with HIV are tested within 2 months of birth, in contrast with the UNAIDS global target of 95% by 2025, and the mean age of ART initiation is 7 months.1–3 To enable earlier diagnosis and treatment, WHO strongly recommends point-of-care nucleic-acid tests for early infant diagnosis and rapid linkage to treatment within the first 2 months of life.3 Studies done in settings with high HIV burden show that point-of-care early infant diagnosis returns results faster than traditional laboratory-based testing (0 days vs 35 days on average), leading to 90% of infants with HIV initiating ART within 2 months of sample collection, rather than the usual 52%.1 Point-of-care testing is cost effective and cost saving, and one of the more effective interventions to increase the frequency of early HIV diagnosis.4