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Region : Latin America
Health Focus: Healthier Families of
Desired Size (HHFDS), Family Planning and Reproductive
Health, Maternal Health, Child Survival, HIV/AIDS.
Program Approach: Community mobilization.
Communication campaign.
Intended Audience: Women, Youth, Community
Groups and Leaders, High-Risk Groups.
Funding Source: USAID Mission
CCP
Partners: Management Sciences for Health
(MSH)
Country Partners: Ministry of Health,
Selected NGO and FBO partners.
ACTIVITIES
- Child Survival: increased use of quality child survival and
nutrition services
- Reproductive Health: increased use of quality
reproductive health services
- Infectious Diseases: reduced transmission of
selected infectious diseases
HIGHLIGHTS
BACKGROUND
HIV/AIDS has had a more severe impact in Haiti
than in any other country in Latin America
or the Caribbean. As of 1999, AIDS was the
leading cause of death in Haiti, accounting
for as much as 20.5% of all deaths in certain
age groups (UNAIDS/WHO 2002). The Haitian population
is very young, with more than 55% under 20
years old (US Bureau of the Census, 2004).
Intermittent political turmoil and the suspension
of aid by international donors have impaired the government’s ability to
respond to the epidemic and forced non-governmental organizations to take the
lead in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Despite these difficulties, a wide variety
of organizations and government agencies continue to implement HIV/AIDS programs
in the country. Although the efforts of the organizations working with HIV/AIDS
in Haiti do seem to have produced positive results, risk perception and preventive
behaviors remain low, particularly among youth.
CCP provides provides primary support to the Haiti Healthier Families of
Desired Size project in BCC and Community Mobilization. This support includes:
- Defining and guiding the implementation
of a strategy to achieve specific and measurable
behavior changes in the areas of child health, nutrition,
reproductive health, infectious diseases,
and expansion of HIV/AIDS services,
- Fostering involvement and effective participation of community
groups and leaders in health-related programs.
Additionally, JHU-CCP provides technical support for the implementation
of options as exercises by USAID for increasing
the awareness of HIV and individual risk in
Target Groups and for increasing the uptake
of and adherence to HIV clinical services, and to limit stigma and
discrimination.
MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE
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National consensus on priority interventions on Behavior Change
Communication and Community Mobilization (BCC/CM):
A workshop was organized in Kaliko in April
2005 under the leadership of the UCP’s BCC/CM service.
Participants included Haitian government representatives
from the health and regional departments
as well as NGOs and cooperating agencies.
The priority intervention objectives were defined after a situational
analysis in Family Planning and Maternal and Child Health, Tuberculosis,
and STI/HIV/AIDS.
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Availability of a BCC/CM action plan for
each of its 10 regional health zones:
The project’s BCC/CM team assisted UCP to plan and provide
technical direction to the 10 health zones for the elaboration of
their action plan from October 2005 to September 2006.The teams
visited each department and facilitated a mini workshop with the
departmental program managers to determine specific interventions
and activities taking into account each department’s situation
and the national strategic poles of intervention.
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Improvement in quality of counseling
in HIV-AIDS at the 32 institutions providing
VTC/PMTCT/ARV services:
An evaluation of training needs for VTC/PMTCT/ARV
counselors was carried out by a consultant
for the HCP Project in 2004. The project
had also organized 7 refresher training
courses for counselors for 99 counselors. Each counselor
received a copy of the “Kat Kounseling sou VIH/SIDA” work
aids for counseling services. This materiel
was created and produced by the Health Communication
Partnership with co-financing from HS2007.
Aiming to reduce HIV/AIDS stigmatization
and discrimination during counseling services,
43 trainers were trained in the sensitization
of health and services providers at the
16 VTC/PMTCT/ARV sites. The trainers then used the HCP material
as reference during the sensitization sessions. Over 300 health
and service providers participated.
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Promoting VTC/ PMTCT services
The results of a study conducted by Intell
Consult for HCP on knowledge, attitudes,
and practices linked to HIV/AIDS helped
to better orient the promotion of VDT services
by targeting needs. These needs were to increase risk perception
especially in sexually active people and inform on service location,
especially integrated services. Printed materiel produced: 100,000
posters, 150,000 leaflets, 50,000 office calendars, 25,000 wall
calendars, 100,000 folded leaflets in 10 versions (1 for each
department).
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Launch of the Fixed Day Method
The printed materiel necessary for the
introduction of the Fixed Day Method was
developed and produced at the request of
UNAPRESS: 1000 posters, 50,000 folded leaflets,
and 10,000 calendars.
CONTACT
Haiti
Elsie Lauredent, Resident Advisor
Health for Development and Stability in Haiti (SDSH)
Rue Beaudieu #5, Musseau
Pétion-Ville, Haiti
Phone: (509) 2-510-9901/2/3
E-mail: elauredent@mshhaiti.org
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© 2005 The Johns Hopkins University. All rights reserved.