Detailed Mechanism Funding and Narrative

Years of mechanism: 2008 2009

Details for Mechanism ID: 3881
Country/Region: Malawi
Year: 2009
Main Partner: Malawi AIDS Counseling and Resource Organisation
Main Partner Program: NA
Organizational Type: NGO
Funding Agency: HHS/CDC
Total Funding: $200,000

Funding for Testing: HIV Testing and Counseling (HVCT): $200,000

NOTICE - Per the recommendation from OGAC that Malawi as an FY2008 Compact Country, submit a mini

-COP (i.e. program area level narratives only), this activity level narrative has not been updated prior to the

submission of the FY09 Full COP. The Malawi country team anticipates updating narratives upon

completion and final approval of the negotiated 5-year Compact between the United States Government

and the Government of Malawi.

Summary

Malawi AIDS Counseling and Resource Organization (MACRO) started in 1992 as a VCT service provider

in Blantyre city. With financial and technical support from USG it has evolved to become the leading non-

governmental (NGO) provider of VCT in Malawi, operating two service outlets in each of the three regions of

the country. In 2005, MACRO was certified by the Ministry of Health (MoH) to provide National training in

CT and to provide ART at three of its VCT sites located in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu. With USG funds

and technical support, MACRO has established a national CT training center whose operations will be

expanded using FY 2008 funds. MACRO's program of national training in CT is linked to direct CT service

provision funded through Pact.

MACRO's national training activities in CT are part of a logically cohesive program that provides VCT

through a network of testing sites in all the regions of Malawi and provides treatment and care services at

three model comprehensive care centers. Training activities are funded through USG funding while ART

and direct CT service provision are funded through Global Funds programmed through the National AIDS

Commission (NAC). Additional funding for direct CT service provision is through Pact which is a USG-

supported umbrella grant mechanism.

As a national training institution and leading provider of comprehensive HIV prevention and care services,

MACRO works closely with MoH and NAC in developing guidelines, training packages, quality assurance

and monitoring systems.

Activity 1: Support for a National CT Training and Post-training Mentoring Center

MACRO established National CT training and post training mentoring center and trained 129 CT counselors

in CY 2006 using FY 2005 EP funds. By the end of the third quarter of CY 2007 the center had trained an

additional 120 VCT counselors. With FY 2008 EP funding, this center will continue its close linkage with the

direct services outlets operated by MACRO and will provide training to 160 country nationals using a

revised CT curriculum that has reduced the training duration from 5 to 3 weeks.

Each course will be limited to a maximum of 20 participants and deliberate efforts will be made to ensure

fair representation of males and females in each course. The training center will collaborate with district CT

supervisors to mentor newly qualified CT counselors and give feedback on their performance using

standard tools developed for this purpose. In districts with no structures for decentralized mentoring,

trainers from MACRO will visit each newly trained counselor at least once within the first 6 post-training

months.

MACRO trainers employed with USG EP funding played a key role in the revision of National CT training

curriculum that resulted in a shorter National CT training. With ongoing USG support, the number of

counselors trained will increase from 120 in FY 2007 to 200 per year by September 2009. MACRO will also

monitor and evaluate the performance of counselors trained using the revised curriculum and give

appropriate feedback to the MoH and other stakeholders. The Training Center will continue to conduct

courses for trainees from the Southern and Northern regions. Trainings for the Central region will be

conducted by Lighthouse, a USG partner implementing comprehensive HIV programs and training services

in Lilongwe city and its environs.

The MACRO training team will interact closely with and support the MoH in an environment of changing

national CT training needs. MACRO will use FY 2008 funds to diversify the scope of its training program to

include additional special courses such as couple counseling, pediatric counseling, provider-initiated CT

and ART to ensure greater responsiveness to evolving national training needs. These additional topics will

be covered initially in short refresher trainings but will be integrated into the existing standard course in

subsequent years.

In order to ensure sustainability of the training program MACRO, has already initiated a flexible cost

recovery program for VCT training with subsidies that target organizations unable to meet full cost of

training. FY 2008 funds will be used to subsidize trainings for resource constrained organizations and for

jump starting new courses required to support scale-up of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in Malawi.

Through FY 2008 Funding, MACRO will broaden the scope of its national CT training program to cover

specialized areas such as pediatric counseling, couple counseling and provider initiated CT while training

increased numbers of service providers.

New/Continuing Activity: Continuing Activity

Continuing Activity: 14452

Continued Associated Activity Information

Activity Activity ID USG Agency Prime Partner Mechanism Mechanism ID Mechanism Planned Funds

System ID System ID

14452 5958.08 HHS/Centers for Malawi AIDS 6844 3881.08 MACRO GHAI $191,000

Disease Control & Counseling

Prevention Resource

Organization

9960 5958.07 HHS/Centers for Malawi AIDS 5350 3881.07 MACRO GHAI $216,900

Disease Control & Counseling

Prevention Resource

Organization

5958 5958.06 HHS/Centers for Malawi AIDS 3881 3881.06 $191,000

Disease Control & Counseling

Prevention Resource

Organization

Table 3.3.14: