Regional Outreach Addressing AIDS through Development Strategies (ROADS)

Overview

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.

Accomplishments

• CCP helped to develop and register The African Network for Strategic Communication in Health (or Africomnet) (www.africomnet.org [9]), an association of HIV and AIDS health and development communication practitioners dedicated to strengthening capacity in strategic communication for health and development in Africa.

• In partnership with the Health Communication Partnership (HCP), ROADS developed short training courses in HIV/AIDS communication.

• More than 17,000 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and 8,250 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in SafeTStop communities received services in FY 2007.

• A two to three-fold increase in uptake of existing counseling and testing services at nearby health care facilities and rapid uptake of new services where none previously existed (e.g. acceptance of insecticide treated nets) in SafeTStop communities.

• Established three “LifeWorks” Partnerships with international, regional, and national businesses to develop for-profit enterprises employing HIV affected households to improve drug adherence.

• Established and supported community-led Task Forces addressing gender-based violence as a key barrier to HIV prevention, care, support and treatment services.

• Created regional policy and interest on critical, long-ignored issues: HIV, alcohol abuse and violence against women and girls.