HIV/AIDS Program Spotlight
Expanding PMTCT, Voluntary Counseling and Testing, and
Infection Prevention Services in Ethiopia
Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa, and
in 2003 the national adult prevalence of HIV was estimated at 4.4%. With
funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through
the University Technical Assistance Program
(UTAP), Jhpiego began working in Ethiopia in May 2003, preparing and implementing
prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services in seven hospitals.
Since that time, Jhpiego has rapidly expanded its activities to working in the areas of PMTCT,
voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and infection prevention in 49 hospitals
in all regions of Ethiopia.
Jhpiego’s recent activities in Ethiopia include:
- PMTCT. Jhpiego conducted
PMTCT training for 197 providers from 49 sites. At the request of the Ministry of Health,
Jhpiego helped adapt the CDC-Health and Human Services/World Health Organization PMTCT
Generic Training Curriculum for Ethiopia. All U.S. Government partners in
Ethiopia involved in PMTCT training are currently using this package. Additionally,
41 PMTCT trainers have been trained using the Jhpiego Clinical Training Skills
package.
- VCT. CDC funded Jhpiego
to provide overall technical assistance for VCT in Ethiopia. Jhpiego has now conducted
training for 90 counselors for stand-alone walk-in VCT clinics. Additionally, Jhpiego has
participated in a Couple Counseling course for 18 VCT providers.
- PMTCT/VCT. Jhpiego trained 83
providers who are now providing PMTCT/VCT services in 49 hospitals.
- Infection Prevention. At the request
of the Ministry of Health, Jhpiego assisted in the development of national infection
prevention guidelines that are being widely disseminated among health facilities. Jhpiego
also conducted training courses for 197 providers for 49 sites, and most sites
now have infection prevention committees.
- Training Information Monitoring System (TIMS©).
Jhpiego’s TIMS was selected by CDC/Ethiopia to monitor all training implemented by
U.S. Government partners under the President’s Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief
(PEPFAR). Orientation courses to the TIMS system have been conducted, and
monitoring of all U.S. Government-funded trainings has begun at CDC/Ethiopia.
TIMS will be used to nationalize the process of collecting training information
and promote the use of this information for national planning. Jhpiego will
work closely with CDC/Ethiopia and the Ministry of Health to develop and adapt
a national training strategy.
- Performance Improvement. Jhpiego
provided technical assistance in introducing PMTCT performance standards to 118 service
providers at 25 sites using the standards-based management approach and performance
improvement process. The second round of workshops of the performance
improvement process, analyzing the baseline assessments done by the 25
hospitals, has been conducted for 107 service providers. Efforts are now being
made to institutionalize standards-based management for PMTCT at these sites.
More Information
To read other spotlights, go to Program Spotlights.
For additional resources on HIV/AIDS, browse our
Information Sheets and/or
go to the HIV/AIDS section of our Publications Catalog.
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