The Abstinence and Risk Avoidance for Youth Program (ARK), a five-year project funded by PEPFAR, was launched in Kenya, Tanzania, and Haiti to address abstinence and mutual faithfulness for HIV prevention. Led by World Vision, the project focused on HIV prevention among girls age 10-24, with a secondary focus on boys of the same age. Parents, teachers, religious and traditional leaders, service providers, and other adults that interact with youth also benefited from ARK’s efforts. CCP supported the project by conducting trainings to help youth and adults form action groups and conduct outreach in their communities, using materials and tools developed by ARK. CCP designed training for youth on message development and script writing. CCP utilized radio spots, interactive discussions and listener groups to engage experts and lay people to discuss ARK messages.
CCP’s Global Program on HIV/AIDS provides strategic health communication expertise in the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of HIV/AIDS communication programs throughout the developing world. These programs address 1) key drivers to primary prevention behaviors, 2) underlying societal factors, and 3) support to biomedical prevention methods.
Contact Person
Rupali Limaye rlimaye@jhuccp.org [1]Projects
PACTO is a four-year USAID-funded project that aims to facilitate structural, normative and behavioral change to lower barriers to HIV services; increase demand for PMTCT, VMMC, Testing and Counseling among men and women; assure ART adherence and positive prevention lifestyles among PLWHA; condemn gender based violence across all media and community interventions; and promote the utilization of the GBV service continuum in Mozambique.
The Prévention Active et Communication Transformatrice (Active Prevention and Transformative Communication) Program (PACT) is a two-year program (September 2011-September 2013) implemented by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs (JHU•CCP) in partnership with USAID, PEPFAR and local partners in Côte d’Ivoire.
The overall goal of the project is to reduce HIV infections, support national programs to improve the quality of care and treatment services and improve lives of people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS using PEPFAR resources. PACT is designing social and behavioral communication (SBC) programs for selected audiences and building the capacity of the Ministry of Health and AIDS and nongovernmental partners to develop and implement SBC interventions.
AFFORD began as a five-year (2005-2010) health marketing initiative in partnership with Futures Group International, the Malaria Consortium, Pulse Communication, Aclaim Africa and Communication for Development Foundation of Uganda and funded by USAID. With a three year extension (2011-2013), AFFORD will be led by CCP in partnership with Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG) to continue to integrate health communication and social marketing techniques to address a variety of health issues and behaviors in Uganda.
The Associate Award in India is a four-year project funded by USAID that addresses HIV/AIDS in India. Led by CCP under the Health Communication Partnership (HCP), the project provides technical assistance to the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) and State AIDS Control Societies to develop a communication response to HIV/AIDS including messaging, product development, and implementation plans under different thematic areas. CCP utilizes behavior change communication (BCC) and advocacy as core approaches to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS.
The Behavior Change and Social Marketing (BCSM) project, funded by USAID, aims to build the capacity of Rwandan institutions to implement HIV/AIDS prevention, malaria and child survival programs. Led by PSI, BCSM will involve district stakeholders, the private sector and the Government of Rwanda. The five-year cooperative agreement will provide technical support, contributing substantially to Rwanda's national goals and the targets of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and President's Malaria Initiative (PMI). CCP is developing and implementing health communication activities and building capacity and technical skills with Rwandan institutions to create sustainable programs.
In 2005, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) selected a consortium to implement the USAID-funded Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Program (CHAMP). The CHAMP consortium included CCP, CHF International, Catholic Relief Services and Social Impact. The program drew upon the expertise of numerous Rwandan partners, including Caritas-Rwanda, the Rwanda Women's Network and the Rwanda Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, among others. CCP took the lead role in planning, management and delivery of training and technical assistance in BCC and was responsible for designing strategies and messages that resonated with both men and women in urban and rural areas.
ENHANSE, a five-year project funded by USAID, supported increased use of child survival and reproductive health services and increased demand for quality education and training, and strengthened community environments to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS. CCP’s role was to create channels and opportunities for improved communication among USAID partners and strengthen the civil society response in Nigeria.
Young people in India are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection, with current prevalence among 15-24 years old estimated to be 0.47 percent. This compares with adult prevalence of 0.36 percent (NACO, 2007). Prevention of HIV, through safer-sex behaviors among the young, continues to be the most effective long-term strategy in reducing HIV infection.
The EXCELERATE and ISHARE [12] projects build off the well-established CDC-funded ARC (AIDS Resource Center) project which ran in Ethiopia from 2002 to 2011. While some of the activities initiated during ARC are continued through EXCELERATE and ISHARE, the new projects also branch off to include several innovative and exciting activities. The goal of EXCELERATE and ISHARE is to contribute to reducing new HIV infections and AIDS related morbidity and to mitigate its impact in Ethiopia.
EXCELERATE (Expanded Communication Efforts to Lead and Reverse AIDS Trends in Ethiopia) is a 5-year, CDC-funded project that was launched in 2010. JHU∙CCP uses five key approaches under EXCELERATE:
- Increase the use and improve the quality of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) services;
- Reduce stigma and discrimination against PLHIVs;
- Improve young people’s ability to avoid HIV infection;
- Strengthen the role of RARCs in providing social and behavioral change communication (S/BCC) information and services; and
- Provide technical assistance for strategic BCC.
Key activities include: the ART Communication Initiative; Betengna Radio Diaries, Dagu Youth Media Program, RARC (Regional AIDS Resource Center) expansion and outreach activities; MARCH project; capacity building for Jimma University.
The PEPFAR Gender Initiative on Girls’ Vulnerability to HIV (GIGV), the first award under the HIV/AIDS Research Sector TASC 3 IQC, was funded by USAID. Known as the Go Girls! Initiative (GGI), the project was led by CCP in partnership with Macro International. The Initiative shifted the focus from individual risk-taking to contextual factors that render girls vulnerable. The purpose of GGI was to develop, implement and test social, gender and behavior change communication approaches, in an effort to reduce adolescent girls’ susceptibility to HIV infection. Approaches included: addressing contextual factors that present barriers to accessing education; increasing girls resilience through building life-skills; strengthening parents’ and other adults ‘ability to communicate with and support girls; and community dialogue and action. The CCP teams in Mozambique, Malawi and Botswana combined quantitative and qualitative data collection methods to develop a deeper understanding of girls’ vulnerability, evaluate the initiative and disseminate and discuss results with communities and national and international partners.
The Ghana Behavior Change Support (BCS) project is a four-year, USAID-funded project managed by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP) in partnership with the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
The overall purpose of the project is to assist the GHS at the national, regional and district levels to support its efforts to achieve health-related millennium development goals through sustained and coherent social and behavior change communication (BCC) interventions. BCS aims to increase demand and use of commodities and services and create positive behaviors in the areas of:
- Maternal Neonatal & Child Health
- Family Planning
- Malaria Prevention & Treatment
- Nutrition
- Water, Sanitation, & Hygiene
The BCS project is audience focused and driven by the community and family level where behavior and norms are formed. The primary focus is on households with children and youth, and the communities they live in, the providers they go to and the district and national leaders that impact them. The project employs the Communication for Social change model. This aims to blend community, interpersonal and mass media approaches building synergy around three strategic elements or engines.
BCS PLATFORMS
- Addressing a wide spectrum of health topics simultaneously through an integrated approach, Ghana BCS is creating educational and entertaining programs/series that will go on over the duration of the project.
- Utilizing BCC campaigns to focus on one or two specific health issues at a time with high intensity and limited duration.
- Working closely with regional, district, & sub-district health teams to build and strengthen the network of local NGOs to undertake effective and synergized community mobilization in both rural and urban settings.
The Health Communication Partnership (HCP), a five-year project funded by USAID, linked five leading institutions to strengthen public health in the developing world through strategic communication programs. The project was led by CCP in partnership with Academy for Educational Development (AED), Save the Children, The International HIV/AIDS Alliance and Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. HCP sought to create an environment that supported individuals, families, and communities to act positively for their own health and to advocate for and gain access to quality services. HCP addressed family planning and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, nutrition, safe water and hygiene, and democracy and governance. The project had global reach, implementing programs and providing technical assistance in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Near East, and Europe/Eurasia.
The Health Communication Project Associate Award (HCP II AA) in Uganda, funded by USAID, builds on the foundation of the three-year Health Communication Partnership I (2004-2007) award to change individual behavior, mobilize communities, create an enabling environment for sound health practices and build capacity in health communication The project is led by CCP, in partnership with MOH, Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC), Communication for Development Foundation Uganda (CDFU), Media for Development International (MFDI), Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC), Mango Tree, Makerere University School of Public Health, AIDS Information Centre and the Regional Center for Quality Health Care. The five-year HCP II project uses proven communication approaches to address HIV prevention, AIDS care and treatment, family planning, malaria prevention and treatment and tuberculosis.
The Health Communication Partnership Associate Award (HCP AA), a six-year project funded by USAID, addresses individual and community health priorities in Zambia. The project is led by Save the Children in partnership with CCP, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, the Zambian Government and many local nongovernmental organizations in Zambia. HCP AA builds on the foundation of ZIHPCOMM which changed individual behavior, mobilized communities, created an enabling environment for sound health practices, and made social services more people-centered. CCP uses the strategic approaches of community mobilization, leadership, mobilization of youth, and message harmonization to support Zambian health priorities around HIV/AIDS, family planning and reproductive health, child survival, adolescent health and malaria.
The Santé pour le Développement et la Stabilité d’Haïti (SDSH) Project—Pwojé Djanm (“Robust Project”) in Creole—is a three-year project funded by USAID. This project, led by MSH, seeks to increase the availability and use of essential social services. The project provides technical support to the Ministry of Health at central and departmental levels; it supports local service delivery NGOs as well as public sites using performance-based contracts. CCP’s contribution to the project consists in the strategic orientation and provision of technical assistance to the partners in the areas of behavior change communication and community mobilization.
The Health Initiatives in the Private Sector (HIPS) project, a three-year project funded by USAID, works with the Ugandan business community to ensure access to vital health services for company employees, their dependents and the surrounding community. Led by Emerging Markets Group (EMG), the project provides technical assistance to design and implement comprehensive workplace health programs that maximize accessibility to HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria prevention and treatment services. The project also imparts reproductive health and family planning (RH/FP) knowledge. CCP provides technical expertise, partnership brokering and a small grants program to facilitate expanded and improved service delivery, especially to underserved populations and those living in the conflict zones of northern Uganda.
The Healthy Russia 2020 Project (HR2020) was a seven-year project funded by USAID. The broad-based program of health education, communication and mobilization was led by CCP in partnership with The Futures Group International, Project HOPE and Healthy Russia Foundation. HR2020 focused on healthy lifestyles, HIV/AIDS and family planning and reproductive health in Russia. The legacy of the project lies in the establishment of the Healthy Russia Foundation, which will continue the work of the project, as well as address other key health risk behaviors.
Improved Community Health Care Project Liberia (ICH-Africare) was a five-year project funded by USAID and Africare. Led by Africare, ICH aimed to improve the availability, quality, and reach of primary health care (PHC) and family planning services. CCP worked with local NGOs to design mass media and community-based, behavior change communication activities promoting modern health care and family planning.
The EXCELERATE [12] and ISHARE projects build off the well-established CDC-funded ARC (AIDS Resource Center) project which ran in Ethiopia from 2002 to 2011. While some of the activities initiated during ARC are continued through EXCELERATE and ISHARE, the new projects also branch off to include several innovative and exciting activities. The goal of EXCELERATE and ISHARE is to contribute to reducing new HIV infections and AIDS related morbidity and to mitigate its impact in Ethiopia.
ISHARE (Integrated Strengthening of Health and AIDS Resources in Ethiopia) is a 5-year, CDC-funded project that began in 2011. The ISHARE name reflects the right of all Ethiopians to have easy access to high quality health information and services. The “I” in the name embodies a vision where all stakeholders in HIV feel personally committed to ensuring coordinated action among government, donor, service providers, civil society and community members.
ISHARE’s central strategy is to build on the solid foundation and innovative programming models of the ARC and take them to the next level by strengthening IT/knowledge management networks, refining referral systems, strengthening capacity at all levels, and linking these advances to action at the community level through RARCs and civil society partners.
Key activities include: strengthening IT systems, the Wegen AIDS Talkline, Fitun Warmline, ARC Library and Clearinghouse, technical support to the RARCs and BCC advocacy materials dissemination.
The CCP-headed HCP South Africa field office was registered as a local NGO -- Johns Hopkins Health and Education in South Africa (JHHESA) -- in October 2004. Supported by USAID, JHHESA provides technical assistance and financial support to over 16 local institutions working at the national, provincial and local levels to build capacity to design, implement, monitor, evaluate, and manage HIV and AIDS related behavior change communication programs in South Africa. JHHESA's partners -- PEPFAR, the Government of South Africa and numerous South African media and civil society organizations -- use a combination of interpersonal communication, community mobilization and mass media to emphasize messages around HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, HIV counseling and testing, and OVC. All of JHHESA's partners' activities fall into one or more of the three domains of South Africa's Pathways to a Competent Society Conceptual Framework: the social political environment, service delivery systems, and communities/individuals.
Funded by the Global Health Bureau of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Knowledge for Health (K4Health) Project [25] is designed to engage and serve a growing network of leading international public health organizations and thousands of health service providers, program managers and policy makers. The project’s coordination is led by CCP, with partnerships with FHI360 [26] and Management Sciences for Health [27] (MSH).
K4Health is focused on family planning and related public health topics for a global audience. We work to advance the use of quality information to improve public health programs worldwide.
The Leadership, Management, and Sustainability 2 (LMS2) project is a continuation of LMS, which provided technical assistance to Haiti’s Ministry of Health (MOH) to coordinate and plan interventions aimed at reducing HIV transmission. A five-year project, LSM2 is funded by USAID and led by CCP in partnership with Management Sciences for Health (MSH) and Haiti’s MOH. LMS2 will continue to reinforce the MOH capacity, strengthen the capacity of local organizations involved in HIV/AIDS prevention, and fight against workplace HIV stigma and discrimination. LMS2 is also mandated to coordinate sexual prevention interventions through the existing PEPFAR behavior change communication (BCC) technical working group.
The Letlama (Lesotho Together Against HIV and AIDS Partnership) Project is a five-year project, supported by PEPFAR through the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Led by Population Services International (PSI), Letlama will improve the health of the Basotho people by reducing the incidence of HIV infection through the promotion of protective behaviours and support for healthier social norms among young people 15-24 and adults 25-35.
Working together with the Ministry of Health, public institutions, private sector partners, and an extensive network of community-based organizations, the Letlama Project will:
- Improve the capacity of Basotho institutions to lead, sustain and harmonize the HIV prevention response and deliver high quality HIV prevention services to scale;
- Empower communities to adopt social and cultural norms, attitudes, and values that reduce vulnerability to HIV; and,
- Improve the ability and motivation of Basotho youth and adults to change their behaviours through increased knowledge, risk perception, skills, and access to services.
JHU•CCP is working with local organizations to design, implement and monitor SBCC programs. Our goal is to work hand-in-hand with each of these organizations to support and strengthen their SBCC effort in country.
Malawi’s BRIDGE II is the next generation of prevention programming designed to scale up and deepen HIV/AIDS prevention activities in Malawi by removing barriers to individual action and confronting drivers of behavior at the normative/society level.
The BRIDGE II Project is a five-year USAID funded HIV prevention program aimed at promoting normative behavior change and increasing HIV preventive behavior among the adult population in Malawi. The program is implemented by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs (CCP) in partnership with Save the Children Federation (SC), Pact Malawi and The International HIV/AIDS Alliance (Alliance). Local partners include Corporate Graphics, Youth Net and Counseling (YONECO), Galaxy Media Consultants, Story Workshop, and National People Living with HIV/AIDS in Malawi (NAPHAM).
The overall program objective is to contribute towards the reduction of new HIV infections among the adult population in Malawi. By 2014, we envision BRIDGE II will achieve the following outcomes:
- Men and women will have personalized understandings of their HIV risk, and believe they have the skills, knowledge, and motivation necessary to prevent infection.
- Supported by normative change, proactive services, and dynamic institutions, individuals are using available HIV services and adopting safer sexual behaviors, particularly those related to a key driver of the epidemic, Multiple Concurrent Partnership (MCP). Their behavior change is deep and lasting, and an inspiration to others.
- Norms are redefined to recognize, value, and reward couple communication about prevention and sero-status, compassion for those with HIV and AIDS, protection of self and others, gender equity, and rejection of cross-generational sex, alcohol/substance abuse, and harmful traditional practices.
- HIV and other health care providers never miss an opportunity to provide both HIV negative and positive clients with proactive information, counseling, and referral. They will do this through traditional venues, such as client visits, and new approaches, such phone hotlines, cell phone technology, and community events.
- Malawian institutions are taking the lead in HIV prevention in an atmosphere of coordination and collaboration, with a vibrant exchange of ideas, information, and best practices.
BRIDGE II is a strategic, evidence-based communication program that builds on the Nditha! [31] (“I can”) brand developed under BRIDGE I [32], a USAID funded HIV Prevention project that was led by CCP from 2001-2008. Through the combination of proven community methodologies, interpersonal communication and innovative approaches, BRIDGE II is scaling-up BRIDGE I’s [32] successes while confronting specific drivers of HIV such as multiple concurrent partnerships (MCPs), alcohol/substance abuse, women’s vulnerability, and male norms, and promoting collective efficacy and normative change. In addition, BRIDGE II is linking prevention and referral systems with other HIV/AIDS-related services through existing networks while using m-health to increase access while strengthening forums for exchange of ideas, research, and strategy harmonization, and building capacity of local institutions to lead a coordinated and sustained HIV prevention effort.
The Malawi BRIDGE Project, a six-year project funded by USAID, was an HIV/AIDS prevention project targeting males and females of reproductive age. Led by CCP, in partnership with Save the Children US, Population Services International (PSI), the Malawi Network of Service Organizations (MANSO), Public Affairs Committee and other local organizations, the goal of the project was to change the way Malawians think and speak about HIV/AIDS, and to encourage adoption of behaviors that prevent HIV transmission. BRIDGE worked at the national, district/community and individual levels in eight intervention districts. CCP used results from formative research to develop a multi-media campaign, called Nditha! (I Can!), to reinforce feelings of confidence and self-efficacy among Malawians in their ability to prevent HIV and AIDS. The follow-on to this project is the Malawi BRIDGE II Project [34].
The Measure DHS project, funded by USAID, is a five year project implemented by ICF Macro. The DHS program provides assistance to countries with the Demographic and Health Survey, the Service Provision Assessment (SPA) Survey, the HIV/AIDS Indicator Survey (AIS), Malaria Indicators Survey (MIS) and qualitative research. prjoect. Since October 2008, ICF Macro has partnered with five internationally experienced organizations CCP, PATH, The Futures Institute, CAMRIS Internatonal, and Blue Rastter to expand access to and use of the DHS data. CCP's role focuses largely on dissemination activites at both the country and global level.
Launched in December 2002, the AIDS Resource Center (ARC) in Addis Ababa is Ethiopia's premier source of HIV/AIDS information. The center (referred to as CCP/ARC) serves as a hub for a host of user-driven resources and services, such as a comprehensive multimedia reference collection, high-speed computer terminals with Internet access, audiovisual equipment, databases of information pertaining to HIV/AIDS, and a toll-free HIV/AIDS telephone hotline. In addition to its user services, the CCP/ARC also develops and supports local partners in developing strategic, targeted behavior change communication (BCC) tools and approaches. Through both its user services and BCC activities, the CCP/ARC strives to build the capacity of its partners, with a particular emphasis on the Ethiopian government’s HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (HAPCO).
The CCP/ARC was created through a multi-dimensional public/private partnership and is managed by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs (CCP) with funding from the U.S. PEPFAR program through CDC. CCP/ARC is now in its seventh year of operation and is expanding user services to regional sites, and as well as increasing the scope of its BCC activities.
The Regional Outreach Addressing AIDS through Development Strategies (ROADS) project, a three-year project funded by USAID, addressed HIV prevention along the transport corridors of East Africa. Led by Family Health International (FHI), ROADS aimed to reduce HIV transmission, improve care, and reduce the impact of HIV and AIDS along Kenya and Uganda’s highways. CCP assisted ROADS in strengthening the institutional and technical capacity of implementing partners, as well as HIV and AIDS professionals. CCP developed approaches and tools for emerging issues, such as alcohol abuse and gender-based violence, and built the capacity of community-based partners to implement effective community outreach.
Research to Prevention (R2P) is a five-year HIV prevention project funded by USAID. R2P is led by the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health and managed by CCP. R2Ppartners with faculty throughout the Johns Hopkins Schools of Public Health, Medicine and Nursing, as well as Tulane University, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the University of North Carolina. R2P seeks to answer the question: What are the most effective interventions for preventing the spread of HIV? R2P aims to promote greater use of evidence in the design and implementation of HIV prevention programs in countries most affected by the HIV epidemic. In partnership with organizations in developing countries, R2P will conduct research to identify the most effective interventions for preventing HIV, promote increased use of data to guide programs and policies, and build capacity for applied research among health professionals.
Roads to a Healthy Future, a four-year project funded by USAID, builds on its predecessor, the Regional Outreach for Addressing AIDS through Development Strategies (ROADS) Project. Led by Family Health International (FHI), Roads to a Healthy Future seeks to fund new approaches and support African regional partners to design and expand HIV prevention and health activities in transport communities in Kenya and Uganda. The purpose of the project is twofold: to increase access to multi-sectoral HIV/AIDS, health, and other services for mobile populations and vulnerable communities along East African transport corridors; and to increase the capacity of African regional institutions to support rapid scale up of innovative practices in HIV and health. CCP partners with African institutions to advance strategic communication in health and development. CCP also provides technical assistance in a number of health areas and support the African Network for Strategic Communication in Health and Development (AfriComNet).
Sports for Life (SFL), funded by USAID/West Africa and PEPFAR, was an HIV/AIDS prevention and care program for youth. Originally implemented under the Health Communication Partnership (HCP), the CCP-led SFL project improved lives and motivated youth in both rural and urban environments in eight countries across Africa. CCP launched an SFL pilot in Côte d’Ivoire in August 2006. SFL used soccer as a foundation to promote life skills and healthy behaviors among youth. The program centered on a series of interactive games and small group activities, including community outreach.
Staying Alive is MTV's global HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention campaign aimed at youth. As a new extension of this project, MTV is repackaging and expanding Staying Alive materials for use by community-based youth outreach groups in an initiative dubbed, “Staying Alive in a Box.” With one year of funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CCP is leading a series of research studies that will provide formative input into program development, monitor implementation and assess impact of this initiative in three countries: Kenya, Zambia and Trinidad & Tobago. The research will include baseline and end-line surveys, reception analysis, focus group discussions and feedback from listening groups. Results of the studies will strengthen the Staying Alive in a Box strategy and demonstrate the potential of local community-based interventions tied to an international movement to shift youth norms, reduce stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and reduce risk behavior.
Strategic Radio Communication for Development (STRADCOM), a five-year project funded by USAID/US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), supports the Tanzanian Government’s fight against HIV/AIDS by providing high quality radio programming to the public. Led by CCP, in partnership with Media for Development International (MFDI), STRADCOM combines best practices and innovative radio programming on HIV/AIDS while developing collaborative relationships with government agencies, other USG PEPFAR partners, and international and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in HIV/AIDS in Tanzania.
Strengthening the AIDS Response, Zambia (STARZ), a five-year project funded by DFID, was a technical assistance program that provided institutional strengthening to the National AIDS Council (NAC) as well as civil society and the private sector to better coordinate and implement the national response to HIV and AIDS. STARZ also strengthened the ability of NAC to collect and disseminate strategic information, including the establishment of a national monitoring and evaluation system and the national resource centre, to facilitate information dissemination. These aspects of the programme were fully integrated into the NAC structures. Beyond that, STARZ provided over 10 million USD in small and medium grants to communities and NGOs, and provided support to the private sector for the mainstreaming of HIV and AIDS.
Support for Service Delivering Integration (SSDI-Communication) is a social and behavior change communication (SBCC) project that promotes normative and behavior change in several health areas. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs (JHU•CCP) implements the program in partnership with Save the Children in Malawi and several local organizations. An important feature of the SBCC program is that it is one among three allied projects that collectively form USAID’s SSDI-Communication program.
By 2015, SSDI-Communication envisions a Malawi where families are better able to advocate for their own health, are practicing positive health behaviors, including timely use of EHP services, and are engaging with a responsive health care system. The goal of SSDI-Communication is to contribute to progress in three critical areas: reducing fertility and population growth, which are essential for attaining broad based economic growth; lowering the risk of HIV/AIDS to mitigate the enormous impact on human resources and productivity; and, lowering maternal and infant and under-five mortality rates.
The project will have both broad national coverage through mass media, campaigns, and capacity building, as well as intensive implementation through that project’s local partners. The focal districts include: Mangochi, Machinga, Phalombe, Nsanje, Chikhwawa, Kasungu, Dowa, Salima, Lilongwe (urban and rural), Chitipa and Karonga.
Tchova Tchova, Juntos Vamos Mudar (Moving Forward Together We Will Change), the Social and Behavioral Change Communication project for HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment and Capacity Building was a three-year project in Mozambique funded by PEPFAR. JHU•CCP led the project in partnership with World Vision, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and N’Weti to support the Mozambique Ministry of Health, National AIDS Council, and many civil society and media organizations. The project aimed to reduce HIV transmission and stigma in Mozambique and increase use of HIV services. CCP implemented a coordinated communication approach that integrated related PEPFAR priorities to target one of the main drivers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic--multiple concurrent partners--by tackling underlying social and gender factors.
Technical assistance to the Center for Community Health Research and Development (CCRD) is a three-year capacity building project funded under a grant from the Atlantic Philanthropies. Established in 2002, CCRD is one of the first non-governmental and non-profit Vietnamese organizations to specialize in research and interventions for community health promotion and development. CCP leads the capacity building initiative in behavior change communication (BCC). CCP’s technical assistance is enabling CCRD to develop into one of the leading organizations in BCC in Vietnam. CCRD has expanded its capacity by hiring qualified professionals in health communication planning and strategy development and is broadening its partnership with government agencies, international organizations, universities, research groups and communication specialists. CCRD’s partners include the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Ford Foundation, the Vietnam Ministry of Health, Voice of Vietnam Radio, Columbia University, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology and local organizations.
You can learn more about this project by visiting CCRD's website [47].
Ex-Offenders in Baltimore participate in reducing structural risk through service provision and housing reconstruction.
The TLC’s program, funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), seeks to address individual and structural sources of risk for the ex-offender population returning to selected communities in Baltimore. The project will seek to show that observed positive changes in structural risk are associated with decreased prevalence of Substance Abuse and HIV among re-entry residents. The focus will be on men, 21-50 years old, who have been released from prison or jail in the last 2 years. Phase I involves profiling the TLC Project Area in terms of socio-demographic, epidemiological characteristics, and available resources. Phase II is the intervention phase which involves a two part intervention strategy that will address the short-term individual sources of risk and expand upon the existing, long-term initiatives that make up TLC (there is a job training program, house reconstruction and in-house counseling and medical referral service that is supported by the Open Society Institute and the Abell Foundation). Phase III will involve reentry participants directly as they work with TLC staff to develop and implement action plans. These plans will focus on providing a peer driven approach that combines the long-term strategy of structural change with the short-term strategy of implementing prevention programs. Plans will target opportunities to address behaviors, programs, policies, or practices associated with SA and HIV acquisition and transmission. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine will work with the Center for Communication Programs at the Bloomberg School of Public Health to provide program direction as well as the development of the monitoring and evaluation system and epidemiological support.
As a Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) partner to PEPFAR in Cote D’Ivoire, CCP builds capacity in the area of SBCC and provides technical support and tools for PEPFAR partners for HIV prevention. In Côte d’Ivoire, CCP’s programs aim to reduce the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in collaboration with a variety of partners including JHPIEGO, PSI, ANADER, The HIV/AIDS Alliance, Hope Worldwide, and CARE International.
The Zambia Integrated Systems Strengthening Program (ZISSP) is a USAID program designed to increase utilization of critical high- impact health services through a health systems strengthening approach. The program works at the national, provincial, district and community levels in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH) to strengthen health systems. The program focuses on the following high-impact health services; HIV/AIDS, malaria, family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH), maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), and nutrition. ZISSP is operating in 9 provinces and 27 districts of Zambia. ZISSP is led by Abt Associates, and JHU∙CCP leads the community level BCC activities.
