In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly half of all new HIV infections occur in young people aged between 15 and 24. Ensuring availability and access to SRH information and services is therefore critical to the future of Africa.

An increase in global funding for HIV/AIDS has made more services, including anti-retroviral therapy (ART), available in many countries in the region, but prevention activities have to be increased in order to ensure sustainable HIV/AIDS service provision.

Prevention efforts should motivate people not only to take precautions but also be tested for HIV. Counseling and testing then could act as an entry point for care and support of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).

If people are not aware of the benefits of knowing their own HIV status there is little incentive for testing. Furthermore, if social ostracism and stigma are the consequences of a positive status people will not be tested or seek treatment.

New regional project

From 6th to 8th March in Zambia, and 14th to 16th March in Ghana, planning meetings for a UNFPA-supported Africa Regional Project (RAF5R303) "Community Participatory BCC and Advocacy in the Fight against HIV/AIDS with HIV/AIDS Total Management Model (ATOMM) Concept (2006 - 2007)" were held.

Participants in Zambia conducting causality analysis
on the issues of the high stigma attached to HIV/AIDS

The project aims to complement the on-going community-based ASRH activities under UNFPA Country Programs in Ghana and Zambia by strengthening community response to HIV/AIDS. Experiences and outcomes from the project will be shared at the regional level.

The project will focus on community-level BCC and advocacy to reduce stigma and discrimination with a view to promoting VCT, especially among the young.

The project will also investigate and validate reduction of stigma as a motivation for VCT, and test BCC interventions to determine information that can be used for replication and scaling up of activities countrywide and then regionally.

Speaking about ATOMM, Wilberforce Adade, District Director of Health Service, Twifo-Hemang Lower Denkyira (THLD) District Health Management Team (DHMT) said that good collaboration between the major stakeholders is the key to success of the project. Each organisation tended to do things in its own way and DHMT was sometimes not aware of what those organisations are doing in the district. ATOMM is a good concept to put all the efforts together to achieve a goal, and it can be applicable to any other development issues.

Director of THLD DHMT explaining the availability
of VCT services in the district
through a mapping exercise in Ghana

JOICFP's expertise

Through implementing the project, JOICFP will strengthen national capacity for community participation in BCC and advocacy, and share the experiences in the region and beyond. JOICFP will also provide technical support, based on its wide experience in many countries over many years, especially under the "Community-operated Reproductive Health (CoRH)" concept, and ICT strategies of DigiPlan and Approduction.

Kadoi explains the importance of 'defragmenting'
HIV/AIDS related interventions through ATOMM

Meeting outcomes

The two meetings oriented the participating countries to the regional project, shared community participatory successes, such as the development of the 'picture drama', analyzed the HIV/AIDS situation in the target areas, and developed an action plan for country-level activities.

Click here for a list of participants

Strong stigma and low VCT uptake were identified as two main problems, along with root causes and desired, measurable achievements. A rough timeframe was set and intervention sites identified.

It was decided that, in collaboration with CST Addis Ababa, indicators and research design would be developed to determine if addressing stigma would increase VCT uptake.

BCC and advocacy interventions will be developed based on a qualitative and quantitative baseline study in each country, and a regional workshop will share the results of the studies, develop messages, discuss possible interventions, and select one.

The JOICFP-supported "The Endless Goodbye" picture drama may be utilized as it addresses the issue of stigma and has been pre-tested in Ghana already.