USAID HIV/AIDS E-Newsletter - March 2005

The Synergy Project, implemented by Social & Scientific Systems, Inc., published this E-Newsletter on behalf of USAID's Office of HIV/AIDS.

This E-Newsletter ended in 2005, but access past editions in the archive section.

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of HIV/AIDS is proud to be a partner in The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. This e-newsletter is a regular update from USAID and its partners on programs that prevent and mitigate HIV/AIDS across the developing world.

We encourage you to circulate this publication to colleagues.

Table of Contents

• A. New Partner Spotlight
  • World Relief Mobilizes Youth for Life
    
    
• B. News
  • Ambassador Randall H. Tobias Partakes in International Women’s Day Briefing
  • HIV/STI Prevention Program Targets Risky “Marriages” in Guinean Gold Mining Camps
  • Grants Support Service Delivery to People Living With HIV/AIDS
  • Treatment Organizations Open Offices Together in Tanzania
  • Guinea’s Religious Leaders Help Launch VCT Center
    
    
• C. Recent Events
  • Seminar Examines Workforce Capacity to Deliver AIDS Treatment and Care
    
    
• D. Publications
  • Report Identifies Constraints to Scale-Up of HIV/AIDS Services in Ethiopia
  • Stigma and Discrimination in Nepal Examined
  • Report Assesses Care and Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children
  • Report Highlights Challenges and Coping Mechanisms of Elderly Caregivers
  • Pediatric AIDS Manual for African Health Care Providers Now Available
    
    
• E. Online Resources
  • HIV/AIDS Survey Indicators Database Includes Burkina Faso DHS
  • Behavior Change Communication Catalogue Updated
  • New Youth Reproductive Health and HIV-Prevention Resources Available
  • The Synergy HIV/AIDS Resource Center Highlights What’s New
  
  

A. New Partner Spotlight

• World Relief Mobilizes Youth for Life
  World Relief works in 24 nations on four continents equipping communities and churches to help victims of poverty, disease, hunger, war, disasters, and persecution. As part of the Emergency Plan, World Relief’s five-year "Mobilizing Youth for Life" project will scale up well-established HIV prevention activities for youth in Haiti, Kenya, Mozambique, and Rwanda, encouraging abstinence until marriage, fidelity in marriage, and everyday healthy choices. Working through partnerships with 8,000 churches and 4,800 school and community organizations, World Relief plans to reach more than 1.8 million youth, 15,000 volunteers and peer mentors, 16,500 pastors and teachers, and 70,000 parents. World Relief will also help to establish 1,750 youth clubs to provide continued social support.

B. News

• Ambassador Randall H. Tobias Partakes in International Women's Day Briefing
  U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, Ambassador Tobias, participated in a briefing to increase the responsiveness of U.S. global AIDS policy to the realities faced by women and girls. Other participants included: Senators Orrin Hatch and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Tim Wirth, and members of the UNAIDS women's tour. Judy Woodruff of CNN's "Inside Politics" moderated the session.
  
  
• HIV/STI Prevention Program Targets Risky "Marriages" in Guinean Gold Mining Camps
  A common yet risky practice among gold miners in rural Guinea is to enter into short "marriages" with women who work briefly at the mines. Such unions are the focus of an innovative health communication program that educates women and miners about how to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Messages based on the ABCs of prevention (abstain, be faithful, or correct and consistent condom use) are disseminated via theater groups, street shows, community outreach activities with peer educators, and girls' soccer tournaments. The program is led by Management Sciences for Health in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
  
  
• Grants Support Service Delivery to People Living With HIV/AIDS
  Four organizations will receive a total of nearly $600,000 in grants over the next two years for HIV/AIDS projects under a USAID program implemented by PACT. The projects will focus on providing service delivery to people living with HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia, Cote d'Ivoire, Haiti, and Zambia. The recipients are all local, nongovernmental organizations that were selected from more than 120 applicants in nine countries.
  
  
• Treatment Organizations Open Offices Together in Tanzania
  Five international organizations with expertise in antiretroviral treatment recently opened offices on the same floor of a Dar es Salaam office building to better coordinate efforts with each other and with Tanzanian government agencies during rapid implementation of the Ministry of Health's National Care and Treatment Plan for AIDS. The organizations include: PharmAccess International, the William J. Clinton Foundation, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, Family Health International, and University Research Co.
  
  
• Guinea's Religious Leaders Help Launch VCT Center
  Two of Guinea’s top religious leaders joined government officials, community leaders, U.S. diplomats, and representatives of international nongovernmental organizations at the February 1st opening of the voluntary counseling and testing center at the Hôpital Jean Paul II in Conakry. Family Health International renovated the new center and provides ongoing technical assistance.

C. Recent Events

• Seminar Examines Workforce Capacity to Deliver AIDS Treatment and Care
  Population Council/Horizons Program and InterAction held a seminar on February 23 in Washington, D.C., that highlighted policy and program strategies needed to train and retain frontline health workers to meet the increasing demand for HIV/AIDS services. The speakers drew on research findings, policy analysis, and field experiences in addressing key issues such as pre-service training, human resource management, health worker safety and well-being, and macroeconomic policies.

D. Publications

• Report Identifies Constraints to Scale-Up of HIV/AIDS Services in Ethiopia [PDF, 333KB]
  "The Human and Financial Resource Requirements for Scaling Up HIV/AIDS Services in Ethiopia" estimates the resources required to reach the targets of major initiatives including the Emergency Plan, the WHO "3x5," and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The document also covers the financial costs of providing highly active antiretroviral therapy, services to prevent mother-to-child transmission, and voluntary counseling and testing. Funded by USAID’s Africa Bureau, and produced by Abt Associates, the report was completed in collaboration with USAID/Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health, and other Ethiopian counterparts.
  
  
• Stigma and Discrimination in Nepal Examined
  Family Health International/Nepal recently released the following publications based on USAID-funded studies of stigma and discrimination in Nepal: "Attitudes and Beliefs Toward People Living with HIV/AIDS," "Community Attitudes and the Forms and Consequences for People Living with HIV/AIDS," and "Women and HIV/AIDS: Experiences and Consequences of Stigma and Discrimination."
  
  
• Report Assesses Care and Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children
  The Rapid Country Assessment, Analysis, and Action Planning (RAAAP) Initiative on Behalf of Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children (OVC) in Sub-Saharan Africa assessed levels of care and support for children who have been orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS in 17 sub-Saharan countries. The final report provides a policy and programmatic framework to help unify and scale up responses to the orphan crisis. The report was prepared by the Futures Group/POLICY Project in support of the RAAAP Initiative, USAID, UNICEF, UNAIDS, and the World Food Programme in partnership with in-country donor offices and national OVC steering committees.
  
  
• Report Highlights Challenges and Coping Mechanisms of Elderly Caregivers [PDF, 120KB]
  "Our Hearts Are Willing, but…" examines the roles played by older people in caring for AIDS-affected family members, the challenges caregivers face, coping mechanisms caregivers employ, and interventions needed to support elderly caregivers. The findings are from a study of elderly caregivers in rural Kenya conducted by Population Council/Horizons Program and Plan International.
  
  
• Pediatric AIDS Manual for African Health Care Providers Now Available
  The Handbook on Pediatric AIDS in Africa is an important new resource for providing care to HIV-positive African children. The small-format manual provides easily accessible information for health professionals. The manual was funded by USAID's Regional Economic Development Services Office, written by the African Network for the Care of Children Affected by AIDS, and produced by Family Health International.

E. Online Resources

• HIV/AIDS Survey Indicators Database Includes Burkina Faso DHS
  Data from the 2003 Burkina Faso Demographic and Health Survey on HIV/AIDS knowledge, practices, behavior, and HIV prevalence are now available in the HIV/AIDS Survey Indicators Database. The database allows the user to create a country trend report based on DHS data. Under "Country Reports," users can select Burkina Faso from the drop-down menu and then choose indicator, sample, and survey type. Under "Data Tables," users can compare Burkina Faso data to the data of other countries.
  
  
• Behavior Change Communication Catalogue Updated
  Population Services International (PSI) has updated its HIV/AIDS Behavior Change Communications (BCC) Catalogue, which provides a collection of HIV/AIDS BCC materials developed by PSI country offices. This electronic resource is intended to promote the sharing of knowledge and materials and to serve as a guide for building effective BCC campaigns. The catalogue is accessible online. For the CD-ROM or DVD version, write to aidsmark@psi.org.
  
  
• New Youth Reproductive Health and HIV-Prevention Resources Available
  Published by Family Health International, Youth InfoNet No.12 and No.13 feature summaries of 38 recently published research studies on youth reproductive health and HIV prevention.
  
  
• The Synergy HIV/AIDS Resource Center Highlights What's New
  The Synergy HIV/AIDS Resource Center, implemented by Social & Scientific Systems, Inc., currently contains more than 3,600 documents on HIV/AIDS project management, research, and reproductive health issues, most of which are available for download. Users can refer to "What's New in the Synergy Resource Center," which provides links to new publications, or search the entire online database.