Program Regions
Africa
Asia
Latin America
Near East
|
Regional HIV/AIDS Program
BACKGROUND
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 70% of the estimated 36 million people currently living with HIV and AIDS worldwide. At the end of 2000, approximately 17 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa died from AIDS. Within Africa, the Southern cone is hardest hit with one in five adults now HIV positive in several southern Africa countries. This situation in South Africa and among its neighbors, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, and Swaziland, is bleak. Sero-prevalance rates in pregnant women indicate an alarming trend: 42% in Lesotho; 16% in South Africa; and 32% in Swaziland. In Botswana, life expectancy is now estimated to be 44 years instead of the 69 years it could be without HIV and AIDS. Studies on economic impact have estimated that in South Africa, GDP will be 17% lower in 2010 than it would have been without HIV and AIDS. In response to this devastating epidemic, USAID launched the Regional HIV/AIDS Programme Southern Africa (RHAP SA) in mid 2000. The primary aim of the program is to target high transmission areas at cross border sites with appropriate interventions. The participating countries are Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. HCP will work in five of these: Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, and South Africa. The CAs that currently form part of the RHAP partnership are FHI, PSI, POLICY, and MEASURE.
The Health Communication Partnership will focus on two of USAID RHAP's key objectives:
- To work with high risk cross-border populations
- To expand access to the information generated by the project
CURRENT STATUS
The Regional HIV/AIDS Program (RHAP) has held a series of regional workshop that have enabled partners to share lessons learned and strategize on how to meet current challenges. Topics have included: working with faith-based organizations; economic research methodology; fundraising and management capacity building for PWA leaders; and, working with the road transport sector. In addition, RHAP has produced a "Code of Conduct on HIV/AIDS and Employment" booklet for the region and is working with SADC (Southern African Development Community) to develop model guidelines for VCT. In Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia and Botswana, peer education programs have led to an increase in use of condoms among commercial sex workers at key border sites.
Contact: Jane Brown, jbrown@jhuccp.org
|
