Detailed Mechanism Funding and Narrative

Years of mechanism: 2008 2009

Details for Mechanism ID: 3801
Country/Region: Ethiopia
Year: 2008
Main Partner: Jimma University
Main Partner Program: NA
Organizational Type: University
Funding Agency: HHS/CDC
Total Funding: $90,000

Funding for Treatment: Adult Treatment (HTXS): $90,000

HIV/AIDS (ART) Program Implementation Support

This is a continuing activity from FY06 and FY07.

Jimma University (JU), the first innovative community-oriented educational institution of higher learning in

Ethiopia, is a major contributor to skilled-health human resources development for the country. Through the

assistance of PEPFAR Ethiopia, the JU Teaching Hospital has been a major partner in the implementation

of national HIV/AIDS program activities. To date, a wide array of anti-HIV/AIDS activities has been initiated

by the hospital, including counseling and testing, PMTCT, ART, care, prevention, and HIV/AIDS in-service

and basic training that are supported by PEFAR Ethiopia. JU has also initiated highly acclaimed diploma

and degree HIV/AIDS monitoring and evaluation (M&E) training programs, with support from PEPFAR

Ethiopia. The teaching hospital is serving as a site for in-service training of the health workers required to

rollout HIV/AIDS program activities in Oromiya, the largest and most populated region.

In FY06, JU has strengthened HIV/AIDS prevention activities among university students and staff on

different campuses. Currently, the university is rapidly scaling up ART services at the teaching hospital,

assisted by USG implementing partners. In FY05, FY06, and FY07, JU has secured PEPFAR Ethiopia's

regionalized support by partnering with Columbia University (CU). HIV/AIDS activities in the university are

being consolidated and JU is actively supporting the accelerated scale-up of ART program in Oromiya and

adjoining regions that constitute ART operation zone 2. This has enabled the university to strengthen ART

services and the training being provided on various aspects of ART to all cadres of health professionals

working in the university, its teaching hospital and the health networks in the catchment area of the hospital.

It will enable the university to provide effective support to the in-service training of health workers in

Oromiya and adjoining regions. It will help the university to organize and support relevant operational

research, to assist in development and adaptation of technical materials for local use, and to serve as a

demonstration site for other training facilities in the region, and to network with other institutions of higher

education in Ethiopia, and to establish twinning partnerships with sister institutions overseas. In FY07, in

collaboration with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health (MOH) and other local universities, JU will also initiate pre

-service training in HIV/AIDS, with a major focus on ART. For the university to establish itself as a technical

support center in the long-run, managerial and leadership capacities need to be further developed in FY08.

There is a need for deliberate action to establish managerial and technical capabilities by offering the

university the opportunity as well as the challenge to handle directly the administration and management of

the technical and logistical arrangements required to support the health networks delivering ART and other

HIV/AIDS-related services.

In FY08, the university will strengthen its support to in-service training and direct technical assistance (TA)

to Oromiya RHB and carry out pre-service training on HIV/AIDS, including ART. JU will be involved in

targeted evaluation of HIV/AIDS program implementation and in regional activities related to data

processing, documentation of best practices, and dissemination of scientific information. JU will collaborate

with Columbia University (CU) and Management Sciences for Health, and will also undertake review

meetings with other local universities and stakeholders. The university, while closely working with and

getting intensive technical support from CU, will be provided with an opportunity to engage directly in

managing its HIV/AIDS program though a cooperative agreement with CDC Ethiopia. This arrangement will

allow JU to strengthen its engagement in managing its HIV/AIDS program and its support to the national

and regional health networks. It will help the university start building the capacity it will need to take over the

technical support currently provided by CU, when the latter pulls out its support.