Resources for HIV/AIDS & Sexual and Reproductive Health Integration

In today’s posting, we have two comments from Ethiopia on Anne Namwamba-Ntombela's introduction to this week's discussion on client perspectives from Asfawesen G/Yohannes and Abebe Shibru. Asfawesen asks forum participants what systemic adjustments are needed to boost the skills of the providers, improve working conditions, and give clients a better experience. Abebe shares information on a mother-to-mother support group for HIV positive women in Ethiopia.

Please share your own thoughts and experiences related to the issues raised here and in previous postings.

To participate in the discussion, you can:
- click reply to this e-mail
- send your comment to fphivintegration@ibp.wa-research.ch  
- log into the forum website at http://my.ibpinitiative.org/Community.aspx?c=d1f835b2-0c72-420a-9ade-88186b49abe7  with the username and password you received.

ONLINE ARCHIVE

Postings are also archived at http://www.fpandhiv.org/videoconference/cpieventpage.php  along with all the resources mentioned in previous postings. You do not need to know your username and password to read the postings on the web site. While you are there, please take a look at the web site as well. It was developed to bring together in one place all the relevant resources on integration of family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention and services.

We look forward to more of these rich and interesting discussions. Thanks to everyone for participating and for sharing your questions, concerns, and experiences!

Best regards,

HCP and INFO Teams

 

 

Dear Anne

I really appreciate your personal strength to pass through all these challenges and maintain on working harder to build your career in the direction to support PLWHA.

I have a question to forward. I agree that the service provider has the obligation to pass all required information so that a client can make an informed decision. And in the face of serious shortage of human resource in many countries in Africa, delivering more than one service by a single provider could be considered as " killing two birds with one stone"- alleviating the shortage of workforce and creating convenience to client.

As you well know many of the clients in Africa are illiterate and the providers are not well skilled. Moreover, the providers are loaded with huge number of customers. Under such circumstances the interaction between the client and provider is too brief and the information flow is usually unilateral. These can impede the clients' right to get proper information and the right to make informed decision.

So what system adjustments wood you recommend to benefit the client and boost the skill and working conditions of the provider?

Thank you

Asfawesen G/Yohannes, MD

Center for National Health Development in Ethiopia (CNHDE)

I read the live experiences posted from Anne Namwamba-Ntombela. Really it impressed me.

We have PMTCT program in more than 81 sites across the country (Ethiopia) and we are planning to scale up the program in more 271 other sites/health centers in the near future. In our PMTCT program, I noticed that there are huge gaps in care and support for mothers who found their sero status HIV positive. In order to bridge this gap since the last five months we devised mother to mother support program in five piloted sites. In this program mothers are getting accurate information about family planning options, ART and infant feeding options, disclosure and safer sex. And at this time more than 130 positive mothers are actively participating in the program. Amazingly the program is getting better and better, and mothers seem to be empowered in terms of knowing their right for accurate information. This reconfirms what Anne already stated out.

Of course, all mothers know what they have to do if they are getting adequate and reliable information in pre and post test counseling. Above all, as what Anne stated, quality of counseling is the determining factor for future life of mothers living with the virus to ensure positive living. We have seen this in our mother to mother support program. If HIV positive mothers get information and are well supported they can play a leading role in prevention of HIV/AIDS, they adhere to the program and they feel empowered.

Whenever we are talking about Family Planning integration in the premises of HIV/AIDS we have to pay due attention to respect the rights of mother for information that would motivate them to use the available choices based on her and her partners informed choices.

I congratulate Anne for her strong courage and conviction to help her self and others too. We all can learn a lot from Anne's reach experience. If Anne allows me, I want to translate her experiences in to our local language (Amharic) for our mother to mother support group members as this is one of the big motivations to keep their momentum to help themselves and their family.

If anybody is interested and would like to more about our mother to mother support group I am at your disposal to share the wonderful experience we have here in Ethiopia.

Abebe Shibru

PMTCT Team Leader

Intrahealth International

ashibru@intrahealth.org

Tel. 2511 6627480/81/82

Mobile: 251.911.40.85.83

P.O. Box 9658

Addis Ababa