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Inside this Edition:
Malawi: Malawi Ministry of Health Holds Second Annual HIV Counseling and Testing Week [more]
Secretary Leavitt: Secretary Leavitt Visits Africa, PEPFAR-Supported Sites [more]
Ethiopia: Ethiopian Television Show Aimed at OVCs features Olympic Gold Medalist [more]
Côte d’Ivoire: Côte d’Ivoire Holds HIV/AIDS Workshop for Photojournalists [more]
Public-Private Partnerships: New: Public-Private Partnership Database [more]
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Mark Your Calendar |
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World AIDS Day
December 1, 2007 | | |
Malawi Ministry of Health Holds Second Annual HIV Counseling and Testing Week
During the second annual HIV Testing and Counseling (HTC) week held by the Malawi Ministry of Health, 71 percent of the people tested learned their HIV status for the first time. A total of 186,631 people were testing during the awareness week — a 92 percent increase from last year.
The nation-wide HTC week was held July 16-21, 2007. Approximately 1,367 HTC sites offered services during the awareness week. A majority of the testing sites were mobile, providing a way to reach people in rural areas. Reaching rural populations — historically a very difficult population to reach — was critical to the success of the HTC week.
“Let me take this opportunity to sincerely thank and pass my profound gratitude and appreciation to the members of the public who responded to this campaign and were tested and counseled for HIV. I trust the knowledge of their HIV status will enable them to plan their lives accordingly,” Minister of Health Marjorie Ngaunje MP said.
Among people tested, HIV prevalence was 8.4 percent. Health care workers referred HIV-positive people to treatment and care facilities. Malawi’s national HIV prevalence rate is 14.4 percent, with prevalence higher in urban areas than rural ones.
HTC week is part of the National HIV and AIDS Policy goal of testing one million people by the end of 2007. The National AIDS Commission estimates that only 15 percent of the roughly 12 million Malawians are aware of their HIV status. |
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Secretary Leavitt Visits Africa, PEPFAR-Supported Sites
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt met with top host-country government officials during a 10-day visit to Africa. During the trip, Secretary Leavitt visited U.S. Government- (USG) supported sites that are providing health care and basic social services.
The Aug. 18-29, 2007 trip included communities in South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania and Rwanda receiving funding through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Emergency Plan/PEPFAR), the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund). Visiting these communities allowed Secretary Leavitt to assess the impact of USG-supported programs in Africa and reinforce the need for partnerships with host-country governments and local organizations.
In each country, the Secretary and his delegation spent one day in the capital city meeting with government and civil-society leaders, then traveled to rural areas to spend time with families in smaller communities. Among the sites visited were urban hospitals, rural health clinics, home-based-care settings, programs for orphans, and academic institutions.
One highlight from the trip was the opening of the PEPFAR-supported treatment and care center, Mwananyamala Hospital, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Secretary Leavitt attended the opening and delivered remarks. |
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“My government will fund all the necessary infrastructures in hospitals and health facilities in Tanzania. However, I would like to encourage governments to ensure that they have long-term plans to sustain themselves,” Secretary Leavitt said.
The new treatment and care center is larger and better equipped, which will allow more patients to be seen. The hospital also houses laboratories and other much- needed public health facilities.
In Kigali, Rwanda, Secretary Leavitt visited ES Kicukiro Secondary school and watched students perform a dramatization teaching the importance of abstinence and being tested to know your status. After the program, health care workers were on hand to administer voluntary HIV tests and provide counseling.
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Ethiopian Television Show Aimed at OVCs features Olympic Gold Medalist
Olympic Gold Medalist Haile Gebreselassie joined USAID Ethiopian Mission Director Glenn Anders and Save the Children’s Country Director Margaret Schuler on Sept. 10, 2007 for a screening of the Ethiopian children’s television show Tsehai Loves Learning, which is supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Emergency Plan/PEPFAR). Gebreselassie guest starred in the episode “Eat Right and Exercise.”
The show features messages focused on children living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. The first episode of a four-part series, “Tsenat,” introduces a new puppet whose mother has died of HIV/AIDS. Messages in the show – targeted at children from 3 to 6 years old – focus on understanding emotions, supporting friends when they are sad, and using imagination as a way to express emotions. The first of the Tsehai series was broadcast on Sept. 16, 2007 and the series will run through November.
According to Gebreselassie, “I want children to know that they can be who and what they want to be.” Gebreselassie continued, “When I was approached about participating in today’s event as well as the television show I had my doubts. But it was my own children – who knew Tsehai Loves Learning – who encouraged me to renew my career in acting!”
Gebreselassie invited the crowd in the packed cinema to join him to help fight HIV/AIDS and to help provide care and support for the children of Ethiopia, adding, “Ethiopia should be known for its famous runners, its wonderful history, fabulous people, and delicious food — not the number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.”
Calling Gebreselassie “the most famous man in Ethiopia,” Glenn Anders, USAID Mission Director, thanked the athlete and child advocate for sharing his talents and message with the children about the importance of exercise and eating healthy and nutritious food. Anders encouraged partners and parents in the room to take time to watch the special episodes with the children in their life. |
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Côte d’Ivoire Holds HIV/AIDS Workshop for Photojournalists
For the first time, photojournalists in Côte d’Ivoire had the opportunity to learn about reporting on HIV/AIDS. The American Embassy in Côte d’Ivoire recently held a two-day workshop from Sept. 11-12, 2007 for 35 local photojournalists from government and private newspapers, as well as professional photographers.
The program featured tips and techniques on how to tell an HIV/AIDS-related story through pictures and art. Côte d’Ivoire has a generalized HIV epidemic with the highest prevalence rate in the West African region, estimated at 7.1 percent in adults ages 15-49.
Dr. James Chip Thomas, a medical doctor and photographer, assisted by an Ivoirian speaker led the workshops. Chip encouraged journalists to publish photos that lessen fear and create hope amongst people living with HIV/AIDS. He also highlighted pictures journalists should and should not use when covering HIV/AIDS. At the end of the program, journalists suggested additional trainings be held.
Journalists were also given information about the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief’s (Emergency Plan/PEPFAR) support for Côte d’Ivoire’s comprehensive national HIV/AIDS response. Under the Emergency Plan, Côte d’Ivoire received more than $24.3 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2004, nearly $44.4 million in FY 2005, and approximately $46.6 million in FY 2006 to support comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care programs. PEPFAR is providing $84.4 million in FY 2007. |
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New: Public-Private Partnership Database
Interested in seeing models of PEPFAR public-private partnerships from around the world? A database illustrating the diversity of PEPFAR’s public-private partnerships in support of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care programs is now available online at: http://www.pepfar.gov/c19654.htm
Please send your PPP examples to SGAC_PPP@state.gov to help expand the database. |
Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator
2100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Suite 200 Washington, DC 20522 |
