Detailed Mechanism Funding and Narrative

Years of mechanism: 2011 2012 2013 2014

Details for Mechanism ID: 13372
Country/Region: Ghana
Year: 2011
Main Partner: University of California at San Francisco
Main Partner Program: NA
Organizational Type: University
Funding Agency: HHS/CDC
Total Funding: $250,000

To provide support, training and technical assistance to the Ghana AIDS Commission and national AIDS Control program (Government of Ghana) for long term capacity building in Strategic Information towards improvement of surveillance and monitoring and evaluation throughout Ghana.

Funding for Strategic Information (HVSI): $250,000

UCSF Training and In-service Activities & Deliverables

1. UCSF has been collaborating with the National AIDS Control Program (NACP) at Ghana Health Services (GHS) and Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) in the assessment of high-priority most at-risk populations in Ghana, namely female sex workers (FSW), men who have sex with men (MSM) and injecting drug users (IDUs). UCSF will continue to work with NACP and GAC to identify existing data in Ghana (surveillance, program and special studies) and in neighboring countries to help identify surveillance gaps to be addressed with in-country partners. Formative assessments will be conducted to better inform surveillance activities (see below). TARGETS: Training activities for 4 NACP and GAC staff in formative research methods.

2. UCSF will support the development and fielding of MARPs surveillance and size estimation activities and provide direct oversight and capacity building through "twinning" and training to GAC, GHS and other in-country staff in IBBS and MARPS size estimation in a staggered, phased-in approach to IBBS. Formative assessments will be conducted with MSM and IDUs to further understand the populations of interest with IBBS and size estimation in these populations planned for subsequent years. With additional support from external sources in addition to CDC, UCSF will work with Integrated Health Solutions (I.H.S.), a Ghanain NGO to hire staff for the data collection teams (5 teams x 5 people) with UCSF providing direct oversight in the staffing, training and supervision of data collection teams; data analysis and results dissemination for program and policy. TARGETS: Training for 12 NACP, GAC and other in-country collaborators in protocol & instrument development for IBBS and RDS methodology training and MARPS size estimation methods.

3. Support additional SI activities as specifically determined and prioritized in needs assessment, including

a) data synthesis/triangulation exercise including the development of a relational database of current surveillance, M&E and research activities in Ghana. UCSF will work with GAC, NACP and other in-country stakeholders to identify key topics to be addressed in data synthesis activities. UCSF will twin with in-country collaborators to collate existing data (surveillance, special studies, program, research activities) relevant to the topic(s) of interest and provide TA and capacity building in the analysis and interpretation of the data to answer the question(s) of interest. UCSF will train in-country staff in triangulation methodology for program planning and improvement. TARGETS: Training of 12 NACP, GAC and other in-country collaborators in triangulation methodology.

b) targeted TA for a CDC-funded HIV incidence study. UCSF will provide logistical support in the conduct of a CDC-funded HIV incidence study. UCSF will provide logistical support for ART patient specimen collection for Ghana Incidence testing and provide one facilitator for a training of research lab staff for specimen testing.

Subpartners Total: $0
Integrated Health Solutions: NA
University of Ghana: NA
Cross Cutting Budget Categories and Known Amounts Total: $76,500
Human Resources for Health $76,500