IRCU aims to enhance access and utilization of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services. Its objectives are to strengthen the faith based response to HIV/ AIDS building upon the network of faith-based health and social structures. IRCU HIV/AIDS services integrate other health priorities including malaria, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted infections and fertility that impact HIV/AIDS outcomes. IRCU emphasizes partnerships and linkages with other providers to optimize resources and access.

The program covers forty districts including Arua, Nebbi, Amolatar, Gulu, Kitgum, Lira, Nwoya, Kotido, Abim, Kapchorwa, Kumi, Bugiri, Buikwe, Iganga, Jinja, Kamuli, Mbale, Mayuge, Namutumba, Tororo, Kampala, Luwero, Masaka, Mityana, Mpigi, Mubende, Mukono, Nakaseke, Wakiso, Fortportal, Kasese, Hoima, Kyenjojo, Kabarole, Bushenyi, Kiruhura, Ntungamo, Mbarara, Rakai and Rukungiri. It targets communities with HIV prevention messages and provides care and treatment to individuals affected by HIV, including orphans and other vulnerable children.

IRCU will leverage resources from its faith based structures through service integration and also strengthen linkages with government and other relevant donor funded programs to maximize complementarity.

FBOs contribute 47% of health care in Uganda and government provides modest complementary resources to support services. IRCU will continue to advocate for increased government support in tandem with the growth in volume of services.

IRCU data collection and reporting is harmonized with national system. IRCU Secretariat will ensure regular data quality assessments at FBOs to increase data integrity and reliability.

IRCU procured vehicles with FY 2011 funds. No more vehicles will be required.

In 2013, IRCU care and support interventions will focus on supporting the Government of Uganda (GOU) to further expand access to HIV care and support with the goal to achieve universal access of 80% in care by 2015. IRCU program will provide care and support services to 25,841 individuals. Specific attention will be given to key populations such as truck drivers, fishermen, commercial sex workers and MSMs. This target was derived using burden tables based on district HIV prevalence and treatment need. The Continuum of Response (CoR) model was also applied to ensure improved referrals and linkages. IRCU will be expected to implement approaches to promote an effective CoR model and monitor key indicators along the continuum.

IRCU will provide comprehensive care and support services in line with national guidelines and PEPFAR guidance including: strengthening positive health dignity and prevention (PHDP); strengthening linkages and referrals using linkage facilitators; implementing quality improvement for adherence and retention; pain and symptom management; and provision of services in targeted community outreaches in high prevalence hard to reach and underserved areas.

Focus will be placed on increasing access to CD4 assessment among pre-ART clients for ART initiation in line with Ministry of Health (MoH) guidance. This has been a major bottleneck to treatment scale up nationally. Working with the Central Public Health Laboratory and other stakeholders, CD4 coverage will be improved from the current 60% to 100% over the next 12 months. IRCU will support the sample referral network in line with this national CD4 expansion plan and will monitor and report clients access to CD4 in quarterly reports. In addition, they will keep track of and periodically report on client waiting lists.

Preventive care will be prioritized as a critical component of the program. IRCU will liaise with the CDC supported Program for Accessible Health, Communication and Education (PACE) and the USAID supported Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG) for provision and distribution of basic care kits to clients. USAID has centralized procurement of cotrimoxazole and other HIV/AIDS commodities and like other private not for profit partners, IRCU will access these commodities through the Joint Medical Stores under this centralized arrangement. IRCU will build the capacity of facility staff to accurately and timely report, forecast, quantify and order commodities.

The program will be aligned to the National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS (2011/12 2014/15); support and strengthen the national M&E systems; and work within district health plans. IRCU will work under the guidance of MoH AIDS Control Program (ACP) and Quality Assurance Department for trainings, mentorship and support supervision.

IRCU will provide care and support to 15,000 orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) in 20 districts. IRCU approach to care and support for OVC focuses on strengthening the capacity of the family and equipping OVC with practical skills to sustain themselves. Economic strengthening of families will entail training of caretakers in micro-enterprise development and provision of seed capital for income generation. In doing this, IRCU will build on experiences of some organizations such as Meeting Point Kampala and Comboni Samaritans in management of revolving fund schemes for caregiver groups. IRCU will also strive to leverage resources from government organizations such as National Agricultural Advisory Services as well as other private institutions such as the Bantwana Initiatives, Uganda Cooperative Alliance, Send A Cow and Heifer International. Skills building for OVC aims to equip them with skills in trades that make them economically active in their respective communities. This will be done through vocational training using apprenticeship approaches and trainees will also be facilitated with soft skills like problem solving, teamwork, customer service which are frequently more important to employers. Post training support in form of toolkits and start up grants and training in business management skills will be given to OVC to enable them start business projects. 1,249 OVC will be trained with FY 2012 funds. IRCU also supports formal education as a mechanism of guaranteeing safety and cognitive growth of OVC. Using FY 2012 resources, IRCU will support 10,104 children with formal education focusing on providing support to address barriers to education for orphans, such as lack of scholastic materials, uniforms and levies usually faced by critically vulnerable households. In a phased approach, IRCU is strategically supporting these critically vulnerable households with economic strengthening interventions to eventually enable them meet these basic needs. Psychosocial support will be offered to all OVC to preserve their emotional stability, positive behaviors and self-esteem. Linkages with families and communities will be strengthened to promote child protection. Child monitors will be trained in communities to monitor the welfare of OVC, identify those in abusive situations and link them to appropriate assistance. All HIV+ children accessing services at IRCU health facilities will be identified using linkage facilitators and will be linked to IRCU OVC community component for comprehensive services. IRCU through their community component will mobilize OVC households to access outreach services like immunizations and HCT.

Children identified as HIV positive or in need of other health services will be facilitated to access medical care. Other health services will include HIV/AIDS and reproductive health education and referral for HCT as well as preventive health care such as provision of mosquito nets. OVC care will be a comprehensive package and will address health education, hygiene and basic health care and routine immunization. Special focus will be strengthening family and community systems to ensure sustainability and ownership.

IRCU will focus on supporting the GOU to scale up TB/HIV integration and specifically the PEPFAR goal to achieve TB screening of 90% (731,690) of HIV positive clients in care and initiate 24,390 HIV positive clients in care on TB treatment. This target was derived using burden tables based on district HIV prevalence and treatment need. The Continuum of Response (CoR) model was also applied to ensure improved referrals and linkages. IRCU will contribute to this target by screening 23,257 HIV positive clients for TB and staring 775 individuals on TB treatment.

IRCU will improve Intensified Case Finding (ICF) and the use of the national ICF tools to improve case detection. IRCU will also improve diagnosis of TB among HIV positive smear negative clients, extra pulmonary TB and pediatric TB through the implementation of new innovative technologies- GeneXpert and fluorescent microscopy. IRCU will support MDR-TB surveillance through sputum sample transportation to GeneXpert hubs and receipt of results at facilities.

In 2013, IRCU will ensure early initiation of all HIV positive TB patients on ART through the use of linkage facilitators and/or the provision of ART in TB clinics. IRCU will increase focus on adherence and completion of TB treatment, including DOTS through use of proven low cost approaches. A TB infection control focal person will be supported to enforce infection control at facilities using interventions such as cough hygiene, cough sheds and corners, fast tracking triage by cough monitors and ensuring adequate natural ventilation.

The Ministry of Health AIDS Control Program (MoH/ACP) and the National TB and Leprosy Program (NTLP) will be supported to roll out provision of Isoniazid Preventive Therapy (IPT) in line with the WHO recommendations.

In addition, IRCU will work with USG partners such as Products for Improved Nutrition (PIN), Strengthening Partnerships, Results and Innovations for Nutrition Globally (SPRING), HEALTHQual, Applying Science to Strengthen and Improve Systems (ASIST), Hospice Africa Uganda in their related technical areas to support integration with other health and nutritional services. Collaboration with other key stakeholders at all levels for provision of required wrap around services including family planning will also occur.

The program will be aligned to the National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS and National TB Strategic Plan (2011/12 2014/15), support and strengthen the national M&E systems and work within district health plans. IRCU will work under the guidance of MoH AIDS Control Program, National TB and Leprosy Program and Quality Assurance Department in training, TB/HIV mentorship and support supervision. Additionally, IRCU will support facilities to participate in national external quality assurance for TB laboratory diagnosis.

In 2013, IRCU will focus on supporting the GOU to further expand pediatric HIV care and OVC to achieve universal access to care by 2015. IRCU program will target 2,326 children (under age 15) as a contribution to the overall PEPFAR target of 74,555 HIV+ children receiving at minimum one clinical care service. IRCU will provide comprehensive child friendly care and support services in line with national guidelines, improve adolescent services, strengthen linkages and referrals using linkage facilitators, implement quality improvement for adherence and retention. Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) services will be scaled up to ensure follow up and active search of exposed children in facilities and communities to enable early enrolment of children in care. Focus will be on scaling up low cost approaches, such as use of care taker support groups so as to support retention in care. IRCU will implement community mobilization and targeted activities such as Know your child status campaigns to identify more children. Focus will be placed on improved assessment of pre-ART children for ART eligibility to ensure timely initiation on treatment in line with MoH guidance.

IRCU will support retention of adolescents in care as well as ensure a smooth transition into adult life using expert peers and adolescent support groups. They will be provided with PHDP services including, sexual and reproductive health services, psychosocial support and life skills training. Lessons learned from the planned national adolescent service assessment will be incorporated in activities. A key priority will be to establish strong referrals between OVC and care and support programs to ensure HIV positive children are linked to OVC services, and children provided with OVC services are screened for HIV and appropriately linked to care and support. IRCU will also support the integration of HIV services in routine pediatric health services, including the national Child Health Days.

Preventive care will be prioritized as a critical component of the program. IRCU will liaise with the CDC supported Program for Accessible Health, Communication and Education (PACE) and the USAID supported Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG) for provision and distribution of basic care kits. PEPFAR has centralized procurement of cotrimoxazole and other HIV/AIDS commodities and like other private not for profit partners, IRCU will access these commodities through the Joint Medical Stores under this centralized arrangement. IRCU will build the capacity of facility staff to accurately and timely report, forecast, quantify and order commodities. IRCU will liaise with other USG partners such as Products for Improved Nutrition (PIN), Strengthening Partnerships, Results and Innovations for Nutrition Globally (SPRING), Strengthening Community OVC Response (SCORE), HEALTHQual, Applying Science to Strengthen and Improve Systems (ASIST), Hospice Africa Uganda in their related technical areas to support integration with other health, nutritional and OVC services. IRCU will collaborate with UNICEF and other key stakeholders at all levels for provision of required wrap around services. The program will be aligned to the National Strategic Plan for HIV/AID (2011/122014/15), will support the national M&E systems and work within district health plans. IRCU will work under the guidance of MoH in pediatric trainings, national pediatric mentorship framework and support supervision.

During 2013 IRCU will continue to provide CD4, chemistry and hematology tests in four faith-based facilities with existing capacity to conduct these critical laboratory tests and will build CD4, hematology and chemistry capacity at two additional sites of Buluba hospital and St Francis Njeru health center. During this period IRCU will use the capacity in the six labs and network with regional lab hubs with capacity to ensure that all the 25,841 patients receiving clinical care service at IRCU supported care and treatment sites receive at least two CD4 tests during the course of the year. IRCU will work with the program for Strengthening Ugandan Systems for Treating AIDS Nationally (SUSTIAN) and the Program for Supply Chain Management Systems (SCMS) to ensure that CD4 machines have regular preventive maintenance to reduce equipment down time. In addition IRCU will also ensure that all the six labs receive the necessary cartridges, reagents and supplies through the Joint Medical Stores by assisting the facilities to quantify need and project gaps in a timely manner.

IRCU will scale up voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) to reach 15,462 HIV negative sexually productive males aged 17 years and above in 11 districts of Kampala, Wakiso, Bushenyi, Buikwe, Mayuge, Rukungiri, Nakaseke, Lyantode, Mukono, Arua, Iganga and Zombo.

In 2013 IRCU supported health facilities will continue providing VMMC in line with the national guidelines. Specifically, IRCU facilities will carry out a facility based mobilization and health education on health benefits of VMMC; provision of HIV testing and counseling for all consenting male adults with their partners; provision of VMMC surgical procedures under local anesthesia; provision of post-operative monitoring and care prioritizing infection control and education on hygiene; provision of continued counseling and education on HIV prevention including post-operative abstinence and correct consistent use of condoms. IRCU will continue to liaise with other PEPFAR partners with specialized competence in VMMC to source training and on-going capacity building for its partner sites. IRCU will work with the USAID Health Communications Project and Ministry of Health to further educate religious leaders on the benefits of VMMC, address their misconceptions and shore up their commitment and support for VMMC.

IRCU will use existing HTC services both at facility and community level as entry point to SMC for HIV negative men. Other service points for education and counseling on SMC will be in the out and in patient services specifically to males presenting with STI symptoms. As part of the broader SMC package, individuals will be educated on the importance of other preventive behaviors such as partner reduction, abstinence and safe sex. IRCU activities are in line with the national VMMC scale-up campaign which emphasizes circumcision as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention strategy. IRCU will provide VMMC within the MOH approved guidelines and will ensure its supported facilities provide VMMC as part of the AB approach and not an alternative to it. IRCU will mobilize communities to increase demand and uptake of VMMC. IRCU will work with Makerere University Walter Reed Project (MUWRP) to assess VMMC service provision needs at all facilities and train staff in service delivery. IRCU will refurbish health facilities to provide conducive VMMC surgery and counseling space. Regular monitoring will be done to ensure that services meet the minimum quality standards set by MoH and WHO.

COP12 is a transitional year for IRCUs HIV prevention portfolio as it moves from implementation of stand-alone Abstinence and Being faithful (AB) to comprehensive HIV communication programming. While AB interventions will be maintained, services will be delivered in a manner that promotes community knowledge and utilization of other biomedical interventions such as VMMC, HIV counseling and testing, PMTCT and ART. An estimated 305,388 individuals will be reached in 28 districts of Kampala, Wakiso, Mpigi, Luweero, Mityana, Mubende, Masaka, Rakai, Mbarara, Kiruhura, Kabarole, Kasese, Rukingiri, Hoima, Arua, Gulu, Nwoya, kitgum, Lira, Amolatar, Kotido, Mbale, Iganga, Tororo, Bugiri, Jinja, Kapchorwa and Kween.

The IRCU prevention program will continue to focus on promotion of abstinence and faithfulness as integral components of a holistic behavior change communication program. While capitalizing on established religious structures, IRCU will ensure delivery of comprehensive HIV prevention messaging that addresses not only AB but also provides accurate information on the efficacy and sources of services for biomedical interventions, including HTC, PMTCT, VMMC and ART. IRCU will undertake extensive training of religious leaders to ensure that they pass on correct and consistent HIV prevention messages, as well as integrate holistic HIV prevention messaging in their routine pastoral work. HIV prevention messages will be tailored to specific populations with messages for young people promoting behaviors that discourage early sex, cross-generational sex and transactional sex. Older youth will be empowered with life skills to adopt assertiveness, make appropriate decisions and self-control and also receive information on VMMC focusing on its proven efficacy in limiting HIV transmission and the possible sources of services. Messages for older audiences shall focus on promotion of mutual fidelity but also integrate information on biomedical interventions especially VMMC, PMTCT and ART. IRCU will continue to engage religious leaders and married couples to emphasize religious and family values that promote self-protection, self-control, discipline as well as mutual care and support.

IRCU prevention approach is in line with the national strategy which aims to reduce transmission of HIV by 40% by 2012. IRCU activities address the driving factors identified in the Road Map for HIV Prevention and the National Prevention Strategy. Activities will also be undertaken in line with the National Policy on Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision. IRCU will train 600 religious leaders in basic HIV/AIDS information thereby creating sustainable community resources for HIV prevention. IRCU will develop data tools to capture progress on key HIV prevention indicators at community level. IRCU will also train and provide mentorship to its partner FBOs in technical program and finance management as well as governance and leadership.

The IRCU HIV Testing and Counseling (HTC) program will contribute to the PEPFAR goal of increasing access to and utilization of HTC services through its faith-based facilities and community structures. IRCU will provide HTC to 22,000 individuals in 14 districts including Kampala, Luweero, Buikwe, Nakaseke, Wakiso, Mukono, Jinja, Iganga, Mayuge, Lyantonde, Bushenyi, Rukungiri, Arua, Nebbi and Kumi. HTC will target all patients receiving health services at IRCU supported faith-based facilities as well as high-risk populations including highway truckers, fishing communities, people engaged in commercial sex and uniformed persons. The program activities in Kampala will also allow for greater support and testing of other at-risk-populations such as single women in peri-urban areas as well as other individuals working in high risk informal sector settings such as bartenders, taxi- drivers and touts.

IRCU will provide facility and community-based HTC with the aim of identifying HIV-positive individuals and linking them to prevention, care, treatment and other support services. At facilities, provider initiated counseling and testing (PITC) will be offered in maternal and child health clinics, TB and STI clinics, in-patient wards and outpatient service areas for adults and children. Community HTC interventions will involve home-based HTC for families of index clients. Voluntary HTC will also be undertaken at outreaches targeted at high-risk populations. IRCU HTC activities will also be strongly linked to PMTCT and VMMC and religious leaders will continue to mobilize and refer people for all these preventive services. Couple counseling and testing will be strongly emphasized and IRCU will intensify mobilization, provision of information on the need for disclosure, and refer and link individuals to HTC service providers. Couples found to be discordant will be counseled and linked to support services in facilities and the community. The health facility staff and religious leaders will mobilize people tested to form discordant groups in facilities and communities to allow continuous dialogue and enhance disclosure, peer support and acceptance, and adherence.

PITC will be the primary approach to service delivery and will be provided as a component of general health care for all individuals in inpatient and outpatient units. Internal linkages and referral of patients amongst service units will be mandatory at facility sites hosting high-risk and other exposed patients, such as antenatal care, maternity wards, medical wards, STI, TB, and general outpatient departments. HIV-negative individuals will be referred to appropriate behavioral and biomedical interventions such as VMMC and PMTCT. Other health concerns that impact HIV/AIDS prevention care and treatment outcomes such as TB, other STIs, family planning and nutrition will be addressed as integral components of the comprehensive HTC program.

IRCU HTC program contributes to the national goal of increasing access and utilization of HTC. Services will be delivered in conformity with the national policy and protocols.

IRCU will strengthen logistics management for HTC commodities at FBOs to ensure adequate supplies of testing kits and other laboratory consumables, mentor personnel in test kit logistics management, provide regular updates on new testing algorithms as recommended by MOH and carry out regular laboratory quality control.

The Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) will implement the four eMTCT prongs in support of virtual elimination of MTCT and keeping mothers alive in 13 districts of Kampala, Luweero, Wakiso, Mukono, Jinja, Iganga, Mayuge, Lyantonde, Bushenyi, Rukungiri, Arua, Nebbi and Kumi. IRCU will provide HIV and testing and counseling to 25,000 pregnant women, hence identifying 2,075 HIV positive pregnant women, of whom 1,763 will be initiated on HAART for life and 312 provided with ARV prophylaxis. Infant ARV prophylaxis and EID will be provided to 2,075 exposed babies. These targets will be achieved using PMTCT acceleration funds.

COP12 strategic pivots include (i)improving utilization of eMTCT services to reach more HIV infected pregnant women as early as possible; (ii) roll-out of Option B+ through the accreditation of all supported sites; (iii) intensive M&E at facility and community levels through cohort tracking of mother-baby pairs and electronic data reporting; and (iv) ensuring quality of eMTCT services.

Activities will include site assessments for accreditation; identification of training needs; procurement of equipment; printing of monitoring and evaluation tools, job aides, and Option B+ guidelines; training of 133 service providers; and sample referrals for CD4+ and Early Infant Diagnosis (EID). Retention will be enhanced through the family-focused service delivery model coupled with the formation of Family support groups (FSGs) at all 15 eMTCT sites. The FSGs will meet monthly to receive adherence counseling, supported disclosure, infant and young child feeding counseling, EID, family planning counseling, couple counseling and testing, repeat-testing and ARV refills. Village health teams will be utilized to enhance follow-up on facility referrals and adherence support. Mobile phone technology will be used to remind mothers and their partners of appointments, EID results, and ARV adherence. Home visits will be conducted to trace those who are lost to follow-up. IRCU will enhance the quality of eMTCT services through quarterly joint support supervision and mentorships at all eMTCT sites. Site level support will entail cohort reviews, monitoring adherence and retention rates, data management, availability of supplies (commodities, HIV test kits, tools, job aides and ARVs) as well as addressing existing knowledge gaps on Option B+. Voluntary and informed family planning (FP) services will be integrated into IRCU programs based on respect for womens choices and fulfillment of their reproductive health rights. Service providers will be trained on the provision of FP counseling, education, and information to all women during antenatal care, labor, delivery and postnatal periods, and in care and treatment settings. Dual protection will be promoted among women living with HIV and their partners to help them avoid unintended pregnancies, HIV transmission and/or re-infection. IRCU will collaborate with existing FP partners (Marie Stopes Uganda, STRIDES and UHMG) to increase awareness of the benefits of safe sex, birth spacing, active linkage of adolescents, women and men to various reproductive health services as well as cervical cancer screening.

Services will be aligned to the national policy that supports Option B+ of the newly released WHO guidelines for eMTCT.

IRCU will focus on supporting the National Strategic Plan 2011/12-2014/15 objective to increase access to ART from 57% to 80% by 2015. IRCU program will enroll at least 6,086 new clients and support 13,298 currently enrolled adults on ART by APR 2013, contributing to overall national and PEPFAR target of 190,804 new clients and 490,028 individuals current on treatment. This target is not a ceiling, allowing for higher achievements with continued program efficiencies. Priority will be given to enrolment of HIV positive pregnant women, TB/HIV patients, and key populations. IRCU will support the MoH roll out of Option B+ for eMTCT through: accreditation of health facilities in line with MoH accreditation scale-up plan, training, mentorship and joint PMTCT/ART support supervision. IRCU will also support ART/PMTCT integration at facility level piloting feasible service delivery models, such as same day integrated HIV clinics. The Continuum of Response (COR) linkages and referrals will be strengthened using linkage facilitators across different service points in facilities and communities. Facilitators will also be utilized for TB/HIV integration to ensure early ART initiation for TB/HIV patients. IRCU will support reproductive health integration including family planning and cervical cancer screening at facility level through provision of the services or referrals.

IRCU will implement quality improvement initiatives focusing on early initiation of ART eligible clients; improving adherence and retention; and monitoring treatment outcomes. Use of innovative, low cost approaches for adherence, retention and follow up such as: phone/SMS reminders, appointment registers and alert stickers will be supported. Special focus will be placed on adherence and retention of women enrolled under Option B+. Focus will be placed on increasing access to CD4 for routine monitoring of ART clients in line with MoH guidance. IRCU will support the sample referral network in line with this national CD4 expansion plan and will monitor and report clients access to CD4 on quarterly basis.

Preventive care will be prioritized as a critical component of the program. IRCU will liaise with the CDC supported Program for Accessible Health, Communication and Education (PACE) and the USAID supported Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG) for provision and distribution of basic care kits to clients. USAID has centralized procurement of drugs and other HIV/AIDS commodities and like other private not for profit partners, IRCU will access these commodities through the Joint Medical Stores under this centralized arrangement. IRCU will build the capacity of facility staff to accurately and timely report, forecast, quantify and order commodities. In addition, IRCU will work with USG partners and other key stakeholders for provision of required wrap around services.

IRCU will ensure gender awareness and issues are integrated in programs to ensure equitable access to care and treatment services such as identifying and addressing barriers that women and men may face in adhering to treatment or receiving ongoing care.

The program will be aligned to the National Strategic Plan for HIV/AID (2011/122014/15), support the national M&E systems and work within district health plans. IRCU will work under the guidance of MOH in training, ART/PMTCT mentorship and support supervision.

IRCU will focus on supporting the National Strategic Plan 2011/12-2014/15 objective to increase access to ART from 57% to 80% by 2015. IRCU program will enroll at least 1,271 new naïve HIV positive children and continue to support 1,987 children currently on ART by end of September 2013. This will contribute to overall national and PEPFAR target of 39,799 new and 64,072 children current on treatment. In 2013, IRCU will support the national program to scale up pediatric treatment through strengthening the identification, follow up and treatment for all infants through EID focal persons, peer mothers, SMS messages/ phone calls and flagging files with initiate ART immediately stickers. Facilities will be supported to strengthen test and treat for all HIV positive children under 2 years in line with the national treatment guidelines. IRCU will support the early initiation, adherence and retention of adolescents on treatment using expert peers and adolescent support groups. They will be provided with PHDP services including: sexual and reproductive health services, psychosocial support and life skills training. A key priority will be to establish strong referrals between OVC and care and support programs to ensure children on treatment are linked to OVC services, and children provided with OVC services are screened for HIV and appropriately linked to treatment. IRCU will support the integration of HIV services in routine pediatric health services, including the national Child Health Days.

Preventive care will be prioritized as a critical component of the program. IRCU will liaise with the CDC supported Program for Accessible Health, Communication and Education (PACE) and the USAID supported Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG) for provision and distribution of basic care kits to clients. PEPFAR has centralized procurement of drugs and other HIV/AIDS commodities and like other private not for profit partners, IRCU will access these commodities through the Joint Medical Stores under this centralized arrangement. IRCU will build the capacity of facility staff to accurately and timely report, forecast, quantify and order commodities. IRCU will liaise with other USG partners such as Products for Improved Nutrition (PIN), Strengthening Partnerships, Results and Innovations for Nutrition Globally (SPRING), Strenthening Community Community OVC Response (SCORE), HEALTHQual, Applying Science to Strengthen and Improve Systems (ASIST), Hospice Africa Uganda in their related technical areas to support integration with other health, nutritional and OVC services. IRCU will collaborate with UNICEF and other key stakeholders at all levels for provision of required wrap around services.

The program will be aligned to the National Strategic Plan for HIV/AID (2011/12 2014/15), support and strengthen the national M&E systems and work within district health plans. IRCU will work under the guidance of MoH/ AIDS Control Program and Quality Assurance Department to support pediatric trainings, implementation of the national pediatric mentorship framework and support supervision.