The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief - June 2006 NewsletterWashington, DC  PDF version
In this Issue: South Africa: Small Grants Yield Big Dividends [more]
Small Grants Yield Big Dividends Twenty-seven year old Sello Mokhalipi is a study in courage. Having lived with HIV for nearly 10 years, Sello knows first hand the pain associated with stigma and isolation. Today, with support from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Emergency Plan/PEPFAR), Sello is taking his message of hope and compassion to those in his community seriously ill with AIDS. “I have always wanted to help people who are living with HIV/AIDS,” says Sello as he carefully assists a patient to sit up. “I never imagined that I would one day be the one in need of the same help.” When he tested positive in 1996, Sello was initially despaired because many of his friends and neighbors rejected him. Quickly resolving to live positively, he turned for help to a fledgling community group, the Maboloka HIV/AIDS Awareness Organization (MAHAAO). “It hasn’t been easy, but through the assistance and support from the organization, I regained my will to live and help others like me,” he says proudly. Today Sello is a support group coordinator at MAHAAO, which is based in a small, rural community in South Africa’s North West Province. Serving a population without easy access to either a hospital or government AIDS clinic, MAHAAO works hard to accommodate the growing number of HIV-positive community members. The Emergency Plan Small Grants Program is helping organizations like MAHAAO meet expanding needs. In 2005, the program awarded grants averaging nearly $9,000 to 51 community based organizations around the country. These grants are extending the reach of the Emergency Plan to grassroots organizations engaged in small-scale but high-impact activities. Through the program, MAHAAO received $9,700 to facilitate staff training, purchase critical supplies, and extend its outreach program. “I am so pleased that we received the grant,” says Sello. “The training will help me better help those who are living with the virus.” Fighting HIV/AIDS in the Djiboutian Armed Forces The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Emergency Plan/PEPFAR) is supporting a military-to-military collaboration between the Djiboutian Armed Forces (FAD) and the U.S. Government. Through this partnership, the Emergency Plan supported training for a cadre of military health care providers in the management of patients with sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS. PEPFAR also supported the procurement of computer and audiovisual equipment used by the training program. To date, two outlets provide counseling and testing and over 280 troops have been tested for HIV and received their results. Additionally, approximately 200 individuals have been trained in the provision of counseling and testing. The U.S. Government provided funds to purchase vital HIV test kits, HIV/AIDS diagnostic equipment, and supporting supplies. Over twelve laboratory technicians have been trained in the use and maintenance of this equipment. In a ceremony at the FAD garrison on December 22, 2005, the U.S. Ambassador to Djibouti formally delivered the laboratory equipment necessary to conduct HIV seroprevalence surveys to the FAD Commanding General. The FAD is breaking new ground with a HIV prevalence study covering 2,134 active duty military personnel. The complementary knowledge, attitudes, and practices survey with troops will provide important information about the correlation between behavior and HIV prevalence in the FAD. Finally, the FAD is training peer educators to provide life-saving HIV prevention information to fellow military personnel. Trained peer educators have helped to developed standardized materials on HIV prevention and have conducted a mass media campaign with messages geared towards military personnel. As a result, over 50 military peer educators have been trained, reaching over 800 soldiers with comprehensive HIV prevention information. The partnership between the Djiboutian Armed Forces and the U.S. Government is helping to turn the tide against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Bono sees progress on the ground Under blue skies affording views of Mounts Kilimanjaro and Meru, Bono, lead singer from the band U2, arrived in Tanzania’s third largest city, Arusha, to see African development successes and challenges. During his trip, Bono visited the Ngarenaro Health Center, which receives support from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Emergency Plan/ PEPFAR). The Ngarenaro Health Center provides women with labor, delivery, and family planning services, pregnancy monitoring, and other services. On average, 100 women visit the clinic every day. With support from the Emergency Plan, the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) program has been integrated with routine maternal child health services. Under this comprehensive approach, services have been provided to over 155 newborns exposed to HIV. Additionally, 99 percent of pregnant women received HIV counseling and testing using the opt-out approach. During the first eight months of PMTCT services, 559 of the 8,200 pregnant women tested HIV-positive. Many of these HIV-positive women were referred to the regional hospital for assessment and antiretroviral treatment, which is now more widely available. With support from the Emergency Plan, antiretroviral treatment in Tanzania is scaling up rapidly. “It’s great to see how PEPFAR and Global Fund dollars are working together to bring off services,” said Bono upon learning that 22,000 Tanzanians are now on antiretroviral treatment, up from 1,000 in 2004. “I’m always interested when something abstract becomes real.” Pamela White, USAID/Tanzania Mission Director, who traveled alongside Bono’s team said, “Bono has spent enormous energy pushing money for HIV/AIDS and malaria on both sides of the Atlantic... I believe his visit to Tanzania may have been the first time [he’s] actually seen policy turned into reality on the ground.” First Lady Laura Bush Proposes International HIV Testing Day On June 2, 2006, First Lady Laura Bush addressed the United Nations General Assembly High Level Review Meeting on HIV/AIDS, convened from May 31 to June 2, 2006. The purpose of the high level meeting was to review progress achieved in fighting the epidemic since the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. In her address, the First Lady acknowledged successes as well as the significant work that remains. Mrs. Bush noted, “When President Bush announced PEPFAR at the beginning of 2003, only 50,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa were thought to be receiving anti-retroviral treatment. Now, in PEPFAR’s 15 focus nations, the United States has helped provide treatment for more than 560,000 people”. Sixty-one percent of those on Emergency Plan-supported treatment are female. Thanks to the urgent efforts of dedicated PEPFAR partners – both governmental and nongovernmental – hope is reaching a growing number of people. The First Lady also proposed the designation of an International HIV Testing Day. “... [L]ife-saving treatment never reaches people who do not know they are infected,” the First Lady said. In addition, a person unaware of his or her HIV status will not access care that can prevent opportunistic infections and may not take all possible prevention steps to avoid spreading infection. Counseling and testing are key gateways to prevention, care and treatment programs. The proposed International HIV Testing Day will globalize National Testing Day in the United States, which is held on June 27th. Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator |
 | |||
|
