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| Masihlanganeni Project will be presented at the South African AIDS Conference |
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Durban, South Africa
June 09, 2005
11:00AM-12:30PM
SA AIDS Conference
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| PLWHA Summit 2005 |
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Umtata, Eastern Cape, South Africa
October 7 & 8, 2005
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Masihlanganeni: Let Us Come Together
Project Update
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March 2005
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Greetings!
Earlier this year, South Africa Partners initiated the Masihlanganeni Project in cooperation with its partners in Massachusetts and the Province of the Eastern Cape as a way to support and contribute to the ongoing process of education, mobilization, and integration of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) in the Eastern Cape. Masihlanganeni seeks to diminish the spread the HIV and to improve the health and well-being of PLWHAs by assuring their active and effective participation in strategies to end the epidemic. Specifically, the project endeavors to accomplish these goals by improving HIV/AIDS service delivery, care and support, and by promoting PLWHA involvement in mobilization and system development.
In response to priorities mutually generated by Eastern Cape and Massachusetts collaborators, Masihlanganeni will provide technical assistance and training through four major initiatives: (1)Supporting HIV Care and Other Innovation; (2) Improving HIV Care Access and Quality; (3) Influencing Provincial HIV Policy Decision-making; and (4) Increasing Cooperation Among Stakeholders.
As a way to keep our partners and other interested stakeholders informed, SA Partners will circulate quarterly updates on the progress of Masihlanganeni. We very much welcome your comments and suggestions.
Mary Tiseo, Executive Director
Thembi Zungu, Eastern Cape Field Director
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Pilot Wellness and Support Centre, Port Elizabeth
Delegation visits between the Eastern Cape Department of Health (ECDOH) HIV/AIDS Bureau have led Directorate staff to the decision to model an integrated system of care based in Massachusetts, starting with the establishment of a pilot Wellness Centre in Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality.
After an initial planning meeting with Dr. Charmaine Pailman, the Business Unit Manager of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality, it was agreed that SA Partners would conduct a survey of local PLWHAs to determine the level of support for a Wellness
Centre in the Metro and what services should be prioritized. In February, we met with Therese Boulle and Nomgcobo Makhamandela of the Community Development Unit (CDU), at the recently renamed Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, to design a survey
process.
On April 19 and 20, CDU will conduct training for 22 lay health counselors (2 from each of the 11 ARV treatment sites within the Metro Health District) who will conduct focus groups at their designated site about the proposed Wellness Centre. These focus groups will solicit feedback from at least 150 PLWHAs to guide the process of designing the pilot Wellness Centre for the Metro. Once the survey is completed and recommendations are developed, Dr. Pailman and SA Partners will make a presenttation to the Metro AIDS Council in June.
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Health Advocate Training
Masihlanganeni seeks to increase the number of PLWHAs who can be called upon to support prevention and service delivery improvement efforts at the district and sub-district level. Toward this end, SA Partners will identify 21 local PLWHA leaders (three from each of the Province's seven health districts) and train them to be Health Advocates.
Masihlanganeni has begun the process of identifying and training three PLWHAs from each of the Province's seven health districts as Health Advocates who will be available to promote Masihlanganeni initiatives and to work with district and sub-district health offices, local NGOs, and PLWHA sector campaigns. Their training will include the basic science of HIV/AIDS, an understanding of the National and Provincial Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Implementation Plans, governmental department responsibilities in relationship to HIV/AIDS and TB, as well as negotiation techniques, public speaking, and networking skills.
The Regional Training Centre for HIV/AIDS at Walter Sisulu University as agreed to develop the curriculum and conduct the training for the Health Advocates over the next few months.
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Eastern Cape PLWHA Summit 2005
Masihlanganeni seeks to establish an annual PLWHA Summit to encourage ongoing and productive working relationships between PLWHAs and government representatives, health care providers, representatives of civil society, and other stakeholders.
In consultation with the ECDOH HIV/AIDS Directorate, this year's PLWHA Summit has been tentatively scheduled for 7 and 8 October in Umtata. We anticipate that it will be attended by 200+ PLWHAs from across the Province and 50+ representatives of government and civil society. The 2005 Summit will be an opportunity to review the progress that has been made in the implementation of recommendations from Summit 2004. As with last year's Summit, the 2005 Summit will produce a list of recommendations for improvements in prevention, treatment and care and support that will be presented to the Province's MEC for Health.
As a lead up to October's Summit, Masihlanganeni expects to hold "mini" District Summits that will solicit input from local PLWHAs and local government, private sector representatives, NGOs and other entities engaged in HIV/AIDS- related activities. Participants of the District Summits will elect representatives to the Provincial Summit.
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South African AIDS Conference - Track 4 Best Practises and Programmes
"Rolling it out - Extending treatment to access and care in SA"
Thembi Zungu of SA Partners, Douglas Brooks of the Justice Resource Institute Health Program and Sophie Lewis of Massachusetts Department of Public Health will present the Masihlanganeni Project at the upcoming South African Aids Conference in Durban, South Africa. The conference will be held on Thursday, June 9, 2005 from 11:00am to 12:30pm. For more information contact info@sapartners.org
SA AIDS Conference
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