Detailed Mechanism Funding and Narrative

Years of mechanism: 2008 2009

Details for Mechanism ID: 8709
Country/Region: South Africa
Year: 2008
Main Partner: Montefiore Medical Center
Main Partner Program: NA
Organizational Type: NGO
Funding Agency: HHS/CDC
Total Funding: $1,022,000

Funding for Sexual Prevention: Abstinence/Be Faithful (HVAB): $112,000

The Montefiore Medical Center aims to eliminate missed opportunities to test youth by building the capacity

of youth-serving clinics and STI clinics to more routinely provide CT using the ACTS model. ACTS ( Assess,

Consent, Test and Support) is a program of rapid, simplified counseling and testing (CT) that effectively

scales up provider-initiated counseling and testing (PICT). In addition, will implementing a youth-based

PICT, Montefiore Medical Center will work with rural districts to target non-government organizations

(NGOs) working with youth to provide HIV prevention activities.

BACKGROUND:

Engaging young people in HIV counseling and testing, prevention and care is one of the most important

strategies for reducing the burden of HIV and AIDS in South Africa. Unfortunately, thousands of

opportunities to achieve these goals are missed every day when vulnerable South African youth seek a

variety of health care services but are not offered HIV counseling and testing (CT) or provided with HIV

prevention information. By reducing pre-test counseling sessions to five minutes or less, ACTS allows

nurses to incorporate CT into the other clinical services they provide, such as sexually transmitted infection

(STI) care and family planning and promotes immediate follow-up and linkage to care. In addition, youth can

then be linked with NGO proving HIV prevention services to ensure behavior change. The target population

for this activity is youth between the ages of 10-25 in hard to reach parts of the country. The major

emphasis area for these activities includes building local capacity and creating linkages, networks and

referrals between youth-based prevention services

and the ACTS CT model.

ACTIVITES AND EXPECTED RESULTS:

Using ACTS, this program will focus initially on maximizing the linkages between youth based NGOs

working in the area of HIVE and AIDS prevention and CT services in high-prevalence youth clinics, starting

with STI clients and expanding to family planning clients. The linkage with the NGOs will ensure that ACTS

services can be implemented in conjunction with AB targeted messaging and with other NGO activities.

ACTS will link with youth-based NGOs in and around the clinics where services are being implemented.

This will ensure that youth get both CT services and AB prevention messages. Simalarily to its approach

with working with health facilities, the ACTS team will engage each new NGO, develop an implementation

and monitoring plan and train all relevant providers HIV and AIDS prevention, in the importance of CT,

collection PEPFAR indicators, provide quality assurance monitoring and initial HIV care. During the five

year cooperative agreement, this model will be continuously refined and successively implemented in high

prevalence communities and sites throughout South Africa starting in the Western Cape and Mpumalanga.

The yout-based NGO project will expand services to Waterberg district in Limpopo province and the North

West Province.

In FY2008, the team will continue to refine the ACTS services in two youth clinics in Khayelitsha . A

monitoring and evaluation plan will be developed that includes PEPFAR indicators. A quality assurance

plan will evaluate linkage to prevention among HIV negative youth as well as ensure that newly diagnosed

HI-infected youth also receive information on positive prevention. A Project Director will be hired and trained

and locations in Mpumalanga or other Province will be chosen as well as additional clinical and community

sites in the Western Cape. The goal is for this partner to test 20,000 youth for HIV and link them to

prevention.

These activities will contribute towards meeting PEPFAR's 2-7-10 goals by targeting youth between the

ages of 15-25 and ensuring that they receive AB messages. In linking prevention services with CT

services, this activity will ensure that youth understand how to stay negative after undergoing a HIV test.

Funding for Sexual Prevention: Other Sexual Prevention (HVOP): $388,000

The Montefiore Medical Center aims to eliminate missed opportunities to test youth by building the capacity

of youth-serving clinics and STI clinics to more routinely provide CT using the ACTS model. ACTS ( Assess,

Consent, Test and Support) is a program of rapid, simplified counseling and testing (CT) that effectively

scales up provider-initiated counseling and testing (PICT). In addition, will implementing a youth-based

PICT, Montefiore Medical Center will work with rural districts to target non-government organizations

(NGOs) working with youth to provide HIV prevention activities.

BACKGROUND:

Engaging young people in HIV counseling and testing, prevention and care is one of the most important

strategies for reducing the burden of HIV and AIDS in South Africa. Unfortunately, thousands of

opportunities to achieve these goals are missed every day when vulnerable South African youth seek a

variety of health care services but are not offered HIV counseling and testing (CT) or provided with HIV

prevention information. By reducing pre-test counseling sessions to five minutes or less, ACTS allows

nurses to incorporate CT into the other clinical services they provide, such as sexually transmitted infection

(STI) care and family planning and promotes immediate follow-up and linkage to care. In addition, youth can

then be linked with NGO proving HIV prevention services to ensure behavior change. The target population

for this activity is youth between the ages of 10-25 in hard to reach parts of the country. The major

emphasis area for these activities includes building local capacity and creating linkages, networks and

referrals between youth-based prevention services

and the ACTS CT model.

ACTIVITES AND EXPECTED RESULTS:

Using ACTS, this program will focus initially on maximizing the linkages between youth based NGOs

working in the area of HIV and AIDS prevention and CT services in high-prevalence youth clinics, starting

with STI clients and expanding to family planning clients. The linkage with the NGOs will ensure that ACTS

services can be implemented in conjunction with HIV prevention activities that targeted messaging and with

other NGO activities. ACTS will link with youth-based NGOs in and around the clinics where services are

being implemented. This will ensure that youth get both CT services and HIV prevention messages.

Similarly to its approach with working with health facilities, the ACTS team will engage each new NGO,

develop an implementation and monitoring plan and train all relevant providers HIV and AIDS prevention, in

the importance of CT, collection PEPFAR indicators, provide quality assurance monitoring and initial HIV

care. During the five year cooperative agreement, this model will be continuously refined and successively

implemented in high prevalence communities and sites throughout South Africa starting in the Western

Cape and Mpumalanga. The youth-based NGO project will expand services to Waterberg district in

Limpopo province and the North West Province.

In FY2008, the team will continue to refine the ACTS services in two youth clinics in Khayelitsha . A

monitoring and evaluation plan will be developed that includes PEPFAR indicators. A quality assurance

plan will evaluate linkage to prevention among HIV negative youth as well as ensure that newly diagnosed

HI-infected youth also receive information on positive prevention. A Project Director will be hired and trained

and locations in Mpumalanga or other Province will be chosen as well as additional clinical and community

sites in the Western Cape. The goal is for this partner to test 20,000 youth for HIV and link them to

prevention.

These activities will contribute towards meeting PEPFAR's 2-7-10 goals by targeting youth between the

ages of 15-25 and ensuring that they receive HIV prevention messages. In linking prevention services with

CT services, this activity will ensure that youth understand how to stay negative after undergoing a HIV test.

Funding for Testing: HIV Testing and Counseling (HVCT): $522,000

The Montefiore Medical Center aims to eliminate missed opportunities to test youth by building the capacity

of youth-serving clinics and STI clinics to more routinely provide CT using the ACTS model. ACTS ( Assess,

Consent, Test and Support) is a program of rapid, simplified counseling and testing (CT) that effectively

scales up provider-initiated counseling and testing (PICT).

BACKGROUND:

Engaging young people in HIV counseling and testing, prevention and care is one of the most important

strategies for reducing the burden of HIV and AIDS in South Africa. Unfortunately, thousands of

opportunities to achieve these goals are missed every day when vulnerable South African youth seek a

variety of health care services but are not offered HIV counseling and testing (CT). By reducing pre-test

counseling sessions to five minutes or less, ACTS allows nurses to incorporate CT into the other clinical

services they provide, such as sexually transmitted infection (STI) care and family planning and promotes

immediate follow-up and linkage to care. This frees up lay counselors via task shifting to provide more

intensive counseling and support services to HIV-infected youth.

ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS:

Using ACTS, this program will focus initially on maximizing CT services in high-prevalence youth clinics,

starting with STI clients and expanding to family planning clients. TB screening will also be introduced. The

ACTS program will then broaden its activities to other health care facilities and community organizations.

The ACTS team will engage each new site, develop an implementation and monitoring plan and train all

relevant health care providers in CT, collect PEPFAR indicators, provide quality assurance monitoring and

initial HIV care. During the five year cooperative agreement, this model will be continuously refined and

successively implemented in high prevalence communities and sites throughout South Africa starting in the

Western Cape and Mpumalanga.

In FY20 08, the team will continue to refine the ACTS services in two youth clinics in Khayelitsha . A

monitoring and evaluation plan will be developed that includes PEPFAR indicators. A quality assurance

plan will evaluate linkage to care among newly diagnosed HI-infected youth. A Project Director will be hired

and trained and locations in Mpumalanga or other Province will be chosen as well as additional clinical and

community sites in the Western Cape. The goal is for this partner to test 20,000 youth for HIV and link them

to prevention, link 2000-4000 HIV-infected youth to improved care, screen at least 100 youth for TB,

train 180 nurses, lay counselors and peer educators to implement the ACTS CT protocol, and establish 15

new CT outlets. The integration of local staff and partners in the operation and monitoring of this program to

scale-up routine testing will ensure local ownership and sustainability.

These activities will contribute towards meeting PEPFAR's 2-7-10 goals.