Family Health and AIDS Project
(Santé Familiale et Prévention du Sida)

• Project Overview
• Objectives
• Recent BCC Highlights
• Current Projects
• Past Projects
• Publications and Reports
• Materials and Resources
• Donors and Partners
• Program Staff
  

Project Overview

The Santé Familiale et Prévention du Sida (SFPS, or Family Health and AIDS Project) was originally designed in 1994-1995 by USAID's Regional Economic Development Services Office for West and Central Africa to provide a regional mechanism for continuing health development assistance. SFPS was awarded for 5 years in 1995 and later given a 3-year extension. The initial project included four countries: Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, and Cameroon, where SFPS has in-country offices. SFPS's reach has since extended to Niger, Benin, Mauritania, and The Congo (Kinshasa). The project's mandate is to increase the use of modern family planning methods, condoms, and ORS (oral re-hydration salts) through the identification and promotion of "best practices" in behavior change communication (BCC), service delivery, training, social marketing, and operations research.

The project is implemented by a consortium of five US-based cooperating agencies:

• CCP: BCC
• Tulane University: operations research
• JHPIEGO: service delivery
• Population Services International (PSI): social marketing of condoms and ORS
• Family Health International joined the project in 2000 and focuses on voluntary counseling and testing and care and support for people living with AIDS (PLWA).

While each component has its own chief of party, a unified management team based in the capital city of Abidjan administers the project at the central level. In FY 2001, the SFPS results framework was revised to respond to the USAID West African Regional Program (WARP) mandate. In FY 2000, the SFPS project began shifting its emphasis away from family planning to HIV/AIDS prevention and care for PLWA. The BCC component remains active in both areas through interventions such as training providers in FP/HIV/AIDS/STI interpersonal communication and counseling (IPC/C), mass media products addressing youth with prevention messages and to help PLWA live positively, and community mobilization activities around improved quality of services.

Objectives

(These objectives are for SFPS and WARP)

• Increase access to and availability of quality reproductive health, HIV/AIDS/STI, and child survival services and products.
• Increase effective advocacy for action in HIV/AIDS, maternal health, and child survival.
• Increase public, private, and non-profit capacity for health policy, program development, and implementation.
• Increase partner collaboration for transparent and efficient use of resources for developing and implementing health policies and programs.

Recent BCC Highlights

• STI/HIV/AIDS risk assessment-risk reduction tool for FP service providers
• HIV/AIDS advocacy video in French and English
• HIV/AIDS message guide completed and launched at ICASA 2001 in Burkina (International Conference on AIDS and STDs in Africa)
• Gold Circle campaign on-going for 3 years in Burkina Faso, Togo, and Cameroon
• Gold Circle providers trained in integrated IPC/C
• Gold Circle impact evaluation conducted in two countries
• Regional hotline counselors training completed in Burkina Faso
• Hotlines launched in Cote d'Ivoire and supported in Burkina Faso
• Youth Friendly/SYMPA clinics established in Burkina Faso and Togo
• Youth qualitative and quantitative baseline completed
• Youth NGOs HIV/AIDS capacity assessment completed
• 6 month "Wake-up Africa" media campaign in Niger
• Cles de La Vie radio series packaged in audio cassettes and syndicated through Planete Jeunes
• IEC support materials for family planning providers (posters, pamphlets, stickers, etc.)
• Tante Fatou radio and TV infomericals produced and broadcast (on FP)
• Development of comic book and film for PLWA and their caretakers on living positively
• Trainings held with Imams on how to talk about HIV/AIDS with their constituents

Current Projects

Gold Circle
Quality accreditation initiative to increase use of family planning services in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Togo.

Integrated FP/STI/HIV/AIDS Services
Developing tools, approaches and training for FP Service Providers to incorporate STI/HIV/AIDS message dissemination and counseling as part of their interactions with clients.

Youth Campaign
RH campaign in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire targeting youth, in collaboration with local youth NGOs, with focus on STI/HIV/AIDS prevention.

PLWA Initiative
Targeting family, colleagues, and the community around PLWAs to promote care and support for PLWAs. Video and comic-style booklet being developed.

Hotline Support Project
SFPS/JHU is supporting hotlines in Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso.

Sympa
Youth-friendly services to increase youth access to quality reproductive health services in Burkina Faso and Togo.

Islam and HIV/AIDS Project
SFPS/JHU is collaborating in Mauritania with an HIV/AIDS NGO to train religious leaders in IPC/C on HIV/AIDS in order to empower them to address their communities on prevention and care and support to PLWAs.

Past Projects

Yamba Songo or Les Clés-De-La-Vie (Keys for Life)
Radio soap opera on various RH topics targeting men and women of reproductive age. Was adapted into comic strips published as inserts in Planète Jeune, a youth magazine distributed in Francophone Africa. Packages of tapes still being distributed to NGOs for community-based activities and youth-friendly clinics.

Search M/MC Health Communication Materials Database for health communication materials on Yamba Songo (Keys for Life) project.

Wake-up Africa
Mass-media HIV/AIDS prevention campaign targeting youth using popular culture. The centerpiece of the project is the "Wake-Up" song recorded by 24 of West and Central Africa's most popular musicians. Additional materials include a music video, seven radio and TV spots of musician testimonials, a documentary video and a guide on how to use the materials. Wake-Up has been broadcast in five countries on national media and regional radio. The materials have also been distributed through HIV/AIDS and Youth NGOs who use them in community mobilization activities.

Search M/MC Materials for health communication materials on the Wake-up Africa project.

Community Mobilization
Working with local "Njangis" or associations in Cameroon, SFPS/BBC trained mobilizers in communication techniques and FP/STI/HIV/AIDS information. These mobilizers then held educational sessions with their Njgangi members and the wider community. A documentary video and manual were produced to disseminate lessons learned and detail the process for those who wish to replicate a similar project.

IEC Kit
A portable kit containing integrated IEC messages (FP and HIV/AIDS) on posters, pamphlets, stickers and an audiotape was developed and distributed to family planning providers. Additional materials were later produced to add to the kit.

IEC Summit
A regional meeting was held with BCC professionals to determine how to better disseminate training in the region. A directory of courses available, requirements, and degrees gained was later produced.

The Time to Act is Now: Abuja, April 2001
This video contains interviews with and presentations by African Heads of State, the OAU (Organization of African Unity) and leaders in the fight against HIV/AIDS. It focuses on the need for leaders to commit resources in their countries to prevent the spread of the disease and care for those already infected. It was filmed during the OAU-sponsored meeting on HIV, Tuberculosis and Other Infectious Diseases in Abuja, Nigeria, April 2001.

Training in IPC/C
As part of its effort to improve the quality of services in FP clinics, SFPS/BCC trained more than 80 providers in interpersonal communication and counseling.

Publications and Reports

Babalola S, Sakolsky N, Vondrasek C, Mounlom D, Brown J. 2001. The impact of a community mobilization project on health-related knowledge and practices in Cameroon.. Journal of Community Health. 26(6): 459-77.
Document Link(s):

Babalola S, Vondrasek C, Brown J, Traore R. 2001. The Impact of a Regional Family Planning Service Promotion Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Cameroon.. International Family Planning Perspectives. 27(4): 186-93, 216.
Document Link(s):

Materials and Resources

Search MMC Health Communication Materials Database for health communication materials related to the Family Health and AIDS project.

Search PHOTOSHARE for photographs related to the Family Health and AIDS project.

Donors and Partners

Program Staff

Baltimore Staff
Jane Brown, Senior Program Officer
jbrown@jhuccp.org

Amelie Sow, Program Officer
asow@jhuccp.org

Field Staff
Claudia Vondrasek, Chief of Party, BCC component
cav@sfps.or.ci