20th September, 2011
AMREF scales up comprehensive HIV and AIDS prevention project in Uganda
AMREF is implementing a five year project to support the scale-up of Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Prevention (SCHAP) services in Uganda.
As well as offering services to the general community, the project targets groups including the most at Risk populations such as drug user and sex workers and their clients, people living with HIV/AIDS, and young people.
The project will employ prevention packages that combine various evidence-based strategies, tailored to the needs of communities affected.
With funding from Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and in collaboration with the Government of Uganda, the Rakai Health Sciences Program, and other partners and local stakeholders, the project will run until August 2015 and will be implemented in eight districts where the prevalence of HIV is high.
The project is set out to achieve three key results:
- Strengthened capacity of district and community structures to promote sexual and other behavioural risk reduction interventions;
- Faciliting district health facilities and health service providers to scale-up Safe Male Circumcision (SMC) services;
- Enabling district health facilities to improve the diagnosis and treatment of STIs.
The interventions include promoting knowledge of HIV; behavioural risk reduction by provision of messages on abstinence, being faithful to one partner, reduction of multiple sexual partnerships, condoms, safe male circumcision and treatment of curable sexually transmitted infections.
Safe male circumcision (SMC) has been proven through research Uganda, Kenya and South Africa to reduce HIV transmission by 60 per cent in males.
The project is scaling up services through providing safe male circumcision outreach centres. The outreach centres focus on increasing volumes and efficiency in order to oversee the safe circumcision of a large number of men in the community. In a period of five months ( April- August 2011) SCHAP has facilitated the provision of SMC to 5,000 clients above 15 years of age and this is expected to rise to 30,000 SMC in year two.
Find out more about AMREF’s work in HIV/AIDS prevention.