DHAPP-ZDF Partnership for Sustainable HIV Epidemic Control
Abstract
Jhpiego, a nonprofit global health leader and Johns Hopkins University affiliate—along with its local, faith-based partners Expanded Church Response (ECR) and Circle of Hope (COH)—is pleased to offer the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) this proposal for an HIV service delivery and capacity building partnership with the Zambia Defence Force (ZDF) and DOD HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP). This partnership will: strengthen HIV prevention, care and treatment for ZDF personnel, their families and civilians served by ZDF; contribute to attainment of 95-95-95 goals for sustainable HIV epidemic control; and build ZDF capacity to own and sustain this work beyond the project’s end. Jhpiego will draw on its 18 years of extensive experience as a trusted HIV partner in Zambia and its experience supporting high-quality service delivery and capacity building of ZDF as a current and past DOD/DHAPP partner in Zambia. Jhpiego will leverage its local and global expertise in voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP); case finding for HIV testing services (HTS) and linkage; HIV care and treatment (C&T) including adherence and viral load (VL) suppression; and building data systems and data use. Jhpiego will also draw on its breadth of experience working in partnership with and building capacity of governments including ministries of health and defense, other PEPFAR implementing partners and local organizations. Through this award, the Jhpiego-led team will: increase access to and uptake of evidence-based HIV prevention interventions to prevent new infections (Objective 1); increase access to and uptake of high-quality HTS and linkage using targeted case finding approaches to achieve the “first 95” for military and civilians served by ZDF (Objective 2); increase access to and retention in client-centered HIV C&T services to achieve the “second 95” for military and civilians (Objective 3); increase VL testing coverage and viral suppression to achieve the “third 95” for military and civilians (Objective 4); and strengthen the capacity of ZDF to implement and manage quality HIV services, addressing gaps in laboratory infrastructure, strategic information and quality (Objective 5). The project will address elevated risk of HIV infection in the military, challenges working with mobile populations, gaps in ZDF human resources and capacity, low HIV service uptake in men and children, inadequate data quality/use and desire for increased ownership by ZDF. With ZDF and DOD/DHAPP, Jhpiego will support HIV services in all 58 ZDF sites, with focus on 25 priority sites. Jhpiego is the current DOD partner for DHAPP’s Cross Cutting Military Settings for Care and Treatment program for PEPFAR in Zambia, supporting ZDF to deliver community-based HTS and linkage, adherence support, prevention and orphan and vulnerable child (OVC) services. This new project will use proven strategies to bridge gaps in community and facility services and achieve the objectives described, including: full package of VMMC services; PrEP; HIV risk reduction; targeted HTS and linkage including voluntary index testing, recency testing and HIV self-testing; prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission and early infant diagnosis; OVC case management; same-day and optimized antiretroviral treatment; VL scale-up and optimization; differentiated care models including multi-month dispensing; adherence support; lab infrastructure; and health systems strengthening. Jhpiego will support ZDF with collection, analysis, reporting and effective use of high-quality, real-time data to improve decision-making. Jhpiego will leverage the military’s organizational structure to transition quality HIV services to ZDF by end of project. This will be fostered via hands-on capacity building and support for improved program planning, oversight and coordination developed in partnership with ZDF and reflecting their priorities and the priorities of DOD/DHAPP and PEPFAR.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 15, 2021
- Source ID
- N002442110004
Entities
People
- Modester Bwalya
Organizations
- United States Navy