Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission: A Panacea for an HIV-free Generation

1. Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission: A Panacea for an HIV-free Generation Mobilizing Community Members for Uptake of PMTCT Services: Approach and Strategies

2. What is ‘Community’? A group of people with diverse characteristics who are linked by common ties including shared interests, social interaction or geographical location”

3. Why Mobilize Community Members in PMTCT To: • better understand and address sociocultural and other barriers to PMTCT • engender local ownership and sustainability • decentralizing services and scaling up coverage

4. Roles of Community in PMTCT as defined by Global Plan • Serve as extension workers; • Provide services, referrals and linkages; • Help plan and monitor programs; • Enter into charters with government authorities to strengthen accountability; • create demand;

5. Roles of Communities in PMTCT as defined by Global Plan • Maximize community assets. • Address challenges to service uptake; • Involve male partners and families; • Reduce stigma and discrimination; • Participate in communication campaigns;

6. Intended Outcomes for Mobilizing Communities Outcome 1: improved supply of comprehensive PMTCT services Outcome 2: increased uptake of PMTCT services Outcome 3: an enabling environmntfor PMTCT.

7. Improving supplies of PMTCT Services • Extend the workforce • Link with community/faith-based organization • Monitoring program through civic partici-pation

8. Increase uptake of PMTCT Services • Communicating for social and behavior change • Providing Peer Support • Maximizing Assets and addressing economic constraints

9. Enabling Environment for PMTCT Scale-Up • Advocating for PMTCT and the right to health • Promoting Engagement in Policies and strategies

10. Range of Stakeholders in PMTCT • General Community Members/Groups: Community leaders, Women’s Groups, Men’s Groups, NGOs/CBOs/FBOs, • Relevant Specific Members/Groups: Pregnant women, Service Provider for Pregnant women/babies, People Living with HIV (especially women)

11. Keynotes in Community Mobilization for PMTCT • meaningful involvement of networks and communities of people living with HIV will enhance PMTCT scale-up; • Building on existing community structures rather than working in parallel to them – improves program efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability

12. IICWIN Experience with Project: Akinyele PMTCT Plus Positive Escort • Identified and worked with a Contact Person • Defined the Stakeholders/Gate keepers/ Com-munity Members/Groups • Paid Advocacy Visits to Community Leaders • Conducted Stakeholders Forum • Capacity Building for key community groups • Linked with 3 PMTCT Centres (UCH, Catholic Hospital Oluyoro & St Mary’s Eleta)

13. A Contact Person • A Community Health Worker who is conversant/works with the community and the health facility.

14. Defined the Stakeholders/Gate keepers/Community Groups • Community Leaders • Women’s groups • Community Birth Attendants Association and members • People Living with HIV • The pregnant women

15. Advocacy Visits to Community Leaders • With the facilitation of the Community Liaison • Listed and visited the leaders of identified groups • Purpose: Sensitization about the subject matter, and obtain their buy-in

16. Conducted Stakeholders Forum • Purpose: sensitization, obtain commitments to work together on PMTCT • High level attendance – Baale of the community, Local Government Chairman’s wife, Primary Health Coordinator, Women’s Leader, Community-Birth Attendants reps, leaders of other relevant groups • About 50 participants were in attendance

17. Capacity Building for community groups Engaged • Community Birth Attendants & • People Living with HIV

18. CBA Sensitization • Sensitized and trained about 100 CBAs in Akinyele and Lagelu LGA on PMTCT, especially importance of HCT for pregnant women • Outcome: - Increased requests for outreach to their facilities – Conducted 117 outreaches to 33 CBA facilities in 1 year and tested 2000 pregnant women - Increased referrals of pregnant women from smaller CBA places to IICWIN for HCT

19. Training of PLHIV as Positive Escorts • 16 PMTCT experienced PLHIV trained & 11 designated as Positive Escort (PE) • Each identified Positive Pregnant Woman is attached to a PE who counsels, escorts to PMTCT Centre and follow-up through home-visits and telephone • 8 PE followed up 78 Positive Pregnant Women and 32 live babies in the 1st year with mixed results