Funded by ViiV Healthcare under Positive Action for Children Fund (PACF), Integrated Community Development Initiative (ICODI) is implementing another 2 years extension project in Mbarara District aiming at the Prevention of Mother-to-child HIV transmission through building community, patient and family centered approaches to also help in reducing on the impact of HIV/AIDS on women’s and children’s health;
This project is being implemented in urban slums, peri-urban areas and the surrounding communities in Mbarara District-south western Uganda through; (1) Working with Community Health Workers (formally known as Village Health Teams (VHTs)) to strengthen their capacity to extend appropriate PMTCT information and reduce on loss to follow up among HIV pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, (2) Training and equipping local and religious leaders with basic information about PMTCT such that they can continue encouraging pregnant, lactating mothers and their partners to seek couple HIV testing and also encourage and promote male involvement in ANC/PMTCT programmes (3) Carrying out PMTCT campaigns in urban slums, peri-urban areas and surrounding communities, (4) Building capacity of health workers to strengthen health education on PMTCT in communities and in their health facilities, (5) Working with health facilities to strengthen active linkage of HIV+ mothers (pregnant mothers) from the point of HIV testing to the point of HIV care and (6) Carrying out health facility based trainings and health education talks targeting HIV pregnant and breastfeeding mothers about the importance of taking their ARVs (adherence), importance of testing their children for 1st, 2nd , 3rd DNA/PCR and a Rapid HIV Test at 18 months and other health related topics.
