Detailed Mechanism Funding and Narrative

Years of mechanism: 2011 2012 2013

Details for Mechanism ID: 12997
Country/Region: Namibia
Year: 2012
Main Partner: African Palliative Care Association
Main Partner Program: NA
Organizational Type: NGO
Funding Agency: USAID
Total Funding: $1,104,831

The African Palliative Care Association (APCA) provides technical assistance and works with providers of palliative and other health care services to expand palliative care (PC). APCA builds capacity, strengthens health systems and supports PC integration at all levels, creating linkages and retention in care and improving the quality of life of PLWHA. APCA Namibia is scaling up PC provision through a public health approach, balancing quality with coverage.

APCA will address the Partnership Framework objective of strengthening PC services and is aligned to USG Namibias GHI strategy to strengthen health systems to ensure transition and sustainability and improve access to women, children and vulnerable populations.

APCA has a national coverage and works cost-effectively by integrating PC into the Government of Namibias care and support program and existing community home-based care organizations. APCA works with the National PC Task Force which consists of in-country stakeholders who guide the strategic direction of PC development. APCA is committed to moving forward PC policy, standards and guidelines.

APCA will work to transition its activities to a strengthened National PC task Force. APCA is working with various educational institutions to integrate PC into pre-service and in-service trainings to ensure that more healthcare workers gain exposure to PC. At the community level, APCA works closely with Catholic AIDS Action and other community based organizations to implement a community-based palliative care program.APCA has measurable indicators to monitor its activities and a performance monitoring plan. APCA will work with its partners to collect quality data and implement the monitoring and evaluation plan.

No vehicle purchases are envisaged.

Funding for Care: Adult Care and Support (HBHC): $888,831

Scaling up Palliative Care for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), implemented by the African Palliative Care Association (APCA) will continue to support the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MOHSS) to integrate palliative care (PC) into the health system by building capacity of health professionals and providing on-going support and mentorship to health facilities and community home-based care (CHBC) organizations.

APCA will work with four learning institutions to ensure continuous pre- and in-service training of professionals. In COP 11 APCA commenced negotiations with Polytechnic of Namibia to establish a PC course. Efforts to formalize this will be supported in COP 12 with actual course delivery projected to start in 2013. APCA will support curriculum development and twinning of the institution with others in the Southern African region. APCA will also support the MOHSS to integrate PC into the curricula of the University of Namibia Medical School. Sensitization has already commenced with COP 11 resources.

APCA will support COHENA, Hope Hospice, TKMOAMS and Aids Care Trust by training their coordinators and providing re-fresher trainings for their staff and volunteers in PC.

APCA will strengthen Tonatas capacity as a network for PLWHA through supporting annual general meetings, reinforcing networking opportunities with regional and constituency AIDS coordinating committees as well as increasing linkages between constituent PLWHA support groups and service providers.

APCA will provide technical assistance to MOHSS and CHBC organizations to implement the bi-directional referral system established by the GRN to improve linkages between communities and health services.

In COP11, APCA supported the MOHSS directorate of Primary Health Care to integrate PC into the CHBC Standards. In COP 12, APCA will continue to facilitate the roll-out the standards for providing quality palliative care and support the MOHSS to monitor the implementation of these standards within CHBC organizations. An audit of the CHBC Standards will be conducted with the six main CHBC organizations providing integrated HBC.

APCA will continue to support Positive Vibes to implement PHDP messages through monitoring and supervision. In COP12, APCA will work with the group to integrate specific PC messages around identification and assessment of pain for community based providers into the existing PHDP tool kit.

APCA will support Catholic AIDS Action (CAA) to become a center of excellence (CEE) for PC. In COP11, APCA worked with the MOHSSs Oncology units in Windhoek and Oshakati to become centers of excellence. These centers support students studying towards qualifications in PC. Staff will participate in exchange visits in the region and will be supported through relevant courses and to attend the APCA conference in Uganda.

APCA will continue to support the establishment of a national association for sustainability of PC work in Namibia that was started in COP11.

Specific target populations include HIV/AIDS care providers at all levels in government, pre- and in-service training institutions, FBOs, CBOs and policy makers throughout the entire country.

Funding for Care: Pediatric Care and Support (PDCS): $216,000

Under this budget code, the Scaling up Palliative Care for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) project, through APCA, will continue to work with MOHSS to integrate specific issues relevant to children in the trainings for health care professionals and staff and volunteers of the community home based care (CHBC) organizations that they support. The trainings will ensure that service providers are equipped to work with children. APCA will continue to provide on-going support and mentorship to health facilities and CHBC organizations. Additionally, special attention will also be paid during mentorship activities to check how children clients are handled by providers.

Meeting the care and support needs of adolescents and children living with HIV requires a comprehensive and integrative approach from a skilled multi-disciplinary team at the different levels of care provision. Integrating palliative care (PC) into care and support provides comprehensive and quality care including appropriate pain management, psycho-social, spiritual and end-of-life care for beneficiaries.

APCA will build capacity and mentor CHBC organizations such as COHENA, Hope Hospice, TKMOAMS and Aids Care Trust, in integrated community home-based palliative care including addressing specific child and adolescent issues such as sexual and reproductive health. Four coordinators from the above CHBC organizations will undertake specialised training in PC which includes pediatric care.

APCA will strengthen Tonatas capacity as a network for PLWHA by supporting the organizations information sharing program on topical issues for PLWHA, especially awareness on addressing the needs of children and adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV). Through support provided to Positive Vibes for updating and disseminating the community PHDP toolkit, APCA will facilitate scale-up of the work Positive Vibes is piloting in Katutura Hospital focusing on psycho-social support for ALHIV.

APCA will continue to provide technical assistance to the MOHSS for integration of pediatric care needs into existing HBC programs implementing a family-centred approach in line with the GHI strategy. Findings from an assessment conducted with COP 11 resources will guide the implementation of integrated home-based palliative care for children and adolescents living with HIV. APCA will continue to monitor its activities based on a performance plan to ensure its meets it targets for human resources for health. A mid-term evaluation is planned in FY 2012.

Strong referral networks are needed between health facilities and community services at all levels of care to ensure comprehensiveness of services across the continuum of care, from diagnosis through to death and bereavement. APCA will continue to work with MOHSS and CHBC organizations to create important linkages between communities and health services thereby improving access to services.

In line with the transition objective of GHI APCAs work will build local capacity in the public sector and civil society to continue to provide quality and comprehensive services for vulnerable and affected populations. This will be achieved through the strengthening of a National Palliative Care Association birthed with COP 11 resources. Specific target populations include HIV/AIDS care providers at all levels in government, pre- and in-service training institutions, FBOs, CBOs and policy makers throughout the entire country.

Cross Cutting Budget Categories and Known Amounts Total: $161,000
Human Resources for Health $161,000
Key Issues Identified in Mechanism
Increasing gender equity in HIV/AIDS activities and services