HIV/AIDS Prevention Care and Support in Zambia
Abstract
Project Concern International is pleased to continue its partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP) to build the capacity of the Zambia Defense Force (ZDF) to meet the HIV prevention, and linkages to care and treatment needs of military personnel, their families, and civilians in and around military facilities; and move towards sustainable control of the epidemic in the ZDF. PCI will continue to build upon structures and processes established through PCI’s long history of working with the ZDF, since 2003, as well as through collaboration with other partners to maximize investments and accelerate progress in case identification, linkages to treatment, and evidence-based analysis of sub-population groups such as adolescents and military men. Through PCI support to improve access, availability, quality and uptake of HIV/AIDS services, ZDF has been able to improve service delivery across the continuum of care, and adapt international standards and evidence-based best practices for improving outcomes and achieving sustainable impact. Taking this further and building upon achievements of the previous phases, PCI will continue to strengthen the ZDF to implement evidence-based HIV/STI prevention, care and support interventions and contribute to Zambia meeting its 90-90-90 targets. Under the proposed project (Phase three of implementation), PCI will deepen its capacity strengthening efforts and incorporate sustainability readiness approaches to continue transitioning program ownership to ZDF, including mentoring the ZDF HIV/AIDS Secretariat to lead the planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of interventions. ZDF leaders will also be supported to continue to foster an enabling environment that reduces stigma and discrimination and supports human rights, gender and social norm change. PCI’s capacity building program will fully align with the Zambia National HIV and AIDS Strategic Framework (2014-2016), PEPFAR Fiscal Year 2017 Country/Regional Operational Plan (COP/ROP) Guidance, the ZDF strategic plan, PEPFAR OVC guidance (2012), the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender Based Violence Globally, Saving Mothers, Giving Life (SMGL), the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon (PRRR) initiative, and UN agencies. PCI will support the Defense Force Medical Services (DFMS) in using existing program and national data to prioritize settings with the highest burden of HIV infection and with unmet HIV testing services (HTS) needs. For these settings, a saturation of combination prevention interventions will support increased uptake of and retention in prevention, treatment and care services, including for voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC), HTS, condom promotion and distribution, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for serodiscordant couples and adolescents with high HIV risk. PCI will support DFMS to develop and strengthen health and community information management systems to use program surveillance data for informing program strategies that enable early linkages to, enrollment in, and enhanced retention in care services among HIV positive beneficiaries. PCI will continue to support DFMS to strengthen bi-directional linkages between facility-and community-based care and support services and to ensure clients have a continuum of care and support services. Further, PCI will support DFMS to tailor combination prevention interventions according to documented risks outlined in the 2014-2020 ZDF Social and Behavioral Change Communication (SBCC) Strategy. PCI will strengthen the capacity of DFMS to implement combination prevention and community-based demand creation, care and support interventions in military bases and surrounding community hotpots and to place greater emphasis on populations known to be at high risk, including new recruits and youth in and around military bases. PCI will target interventions for services including: treatment as prevention (TASP) for all clients.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 28, 2017
- Source ID
- N002441710035
Entities
People
- Mark Odonnell
Organizations
- United States Navy