Challenge
Namibia has one of the world’s highest HIV/AIDS infection rates. Behavior change programs are critical to curbing the growth of the disease which is still on an upward trajectory. The workforce is an important target audience - to reduce infection rates and protect economic growth. Equally important is reaching workforce managers to help them understand the consequences of HIV/AIDS and adopt measures to lessen its impact.
Initiative
Since opening in 2001, the Kuisebmond Multi-Purpose Center has been supported by a USAID grant to Family Health International. It has been central to public and private efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in the port city of Walvis Bay, Namibia. Among its many HIV/AIDS related services is a successful effort to take the fight against HIV/AIDS into the workplace.
The Center has worked with thirteen businesses to establish or strengthen their peer education programs. Peer educators receive an intensive five day course focusing on communication skills, basic facts of HIV, and use of a specially designed peer education manual. Subsequently, each peer educator receives a kit to assist in monthly workplace sessions, including visual aids; participates in monthly discussion sessions with other educators; and refresher training.
By instituting a “fee for service” for its workplace initiatives, the MPC has been able to recover an estimated 60 to 70 percent of its training costs during FY 2003.
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