AEGiS-14IAC: From Advocacy to Action against HIV/AIDS in Africa A WHO/Italian Initiative.

14th International AIDS Conference

Barcelona, Spain - July 7-12, 2002

From Advocacy to Action against HIV/AIDS in Africa A WHO/Italian Initiative.

Int Conf AIDS 2002 Jul 7-12; 14:(abstract no. F11778)

Ghidinelli MN, Moeti M, Aloi A, Teklehamanot S
World Health Organization FCH/Department of HIV/AIDS, Geneva, Switzerland

ISSUE: At the United Nations Special Session on HIV/AIDS in June 2001, governments committed to ambitious targets and goals, emphasizing the urgency to move from advocacy to action. As increased resources are becoming available, it is time to develop and implement focused, feasible and sustainable plans of action based on scientific knowledge and lessons learned. In this context WHO and the Government of Italy have joined forces to support Sub-Saharan African countries to strengthen national responses to HIV/AIDS. This innovative partnership, the WHO/Italian Initiative on HIV/AIDS in Africa, was launched in February 2001.

DESCRIPTION: Within the framework of the IPAA, the Initiative focuses on severely affected countries - Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Mozambique, Rwanda, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Working with national authorities to translate strategies into plans and to convert plans into action, the Initiative supports scaling up of key health sector interventions for prevention and care, using an integrated and district-based approach that promotes broad partnerships. Key elements of the planning phase include: National ownership and effective partnerships to ensure broad-based consensus for implementation Clear evidence based prioritization of interventions Ready availability and catalytic role of seed funds for preparatory activities Close collaboration of inclusive working groups with UN Theme Groups Capacity building for national HIV focal points Strong monitoring and evaluation systems to ensure relevance and flexibility Next stepsWhile countries are now in the implementation phase, new partners have expressed interest in joining forces. All interested parties are invited to share lessons learned in such innovative approaches for scaling-up programmes so as to ensure broad coverage of interventions that will make an impact on the pandemic

Keywords: AEGIS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, HIV Infections, Africa, HIV Seropositivity, Tanzania, United Nations, Government, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Cote d'Ivoire, Mozambique, Swaziland, Angola, Burkina Faso, Italy

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