September 2011

September 13, 2011

New Program Educates Health Sector Executives in Kenya [2]

Kathryn Steger [3]

Earlier this year, USAID supported the launch of the Leading High-Performing Healthcare Organizations program (LeHHO) for senior health leaders in Kenya. Offered at Nairobi’s Strathmore Business School, the program is the result of a successful partnership between Strathmore and USAID’s Leadership, Management and Sustainability (LMS) project in Kenya.

Challenges of Working in a Vast, Scarcely-Populated Province in South Africa [6]

Mupela Ntengu [7]

Health Systems Strengthening [4]

HIV & AIDS [8]

The USAID-funded Strengthening Pharmaceutical Systems [9] (SPS) program has been providing technical assistance to health facilities in the Northern Cape of South Africa, in partnership with the Provincial Department of Health, since 2005.

SPS addresses various areas, including: Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committees (PTCs), medicine supply management, patient adherence to antiretroviral treatment (ART), infection prevention and control, HIV/AIDS pharmaceutical management, pharmacovigilance, quantification, and compliance with the legislation relating to the supply of medicine.

About the Northern Cape, South Africa

Northern Cape, South Africa

Northern Cape is the largest province in South Africa --- 372,889 square kilometers (km²) --- with a population of 1.15 million. It represents 30.5 percent of the total surface area of South Africa.

Mary Umoh: 'Ambassador' for MSH at International AIDS Society Conference [11]

HIV & AIDS [8]

Mary Umoh, colleague and friend -- and one of the winners of an internal MSH abstract contest for staff -- traveled from Nigeria to Rome to present her poster at the 6th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2011).

Fostering Economic Opportunity for Nigeria's HIV-Positive Women [13]

HIV & AIDS [8]

Women & Gender [14]

Fatima preparing bean cakes for her business, Nigeria

HIV-positive women in Nigeria are the primary caregivers for their own families and other people living with HIV. This disproportionately high burden of care has detrimental effects not only on their health but also on their economic well-being.

The MSH-led, USAID-funded, Prevention Organization Systems AIDS Care and Treatment (ProACT) project [15] in Nigeria [16] has helped establish HIV support groups whose participants are 80 percent women. These groups have started providing income-generating opportunities for participants through savings and loan associations, registered with the Nigerian State Ministry of Commerce and Cooperative Societies.

There’s More to the Story: Overcoming Tenacious Gender Inequity for Greater Health Impact [18]

Jonathan D. Quick, MD, MPH [19]

Health Systems Strengthening [4]

HIV & AIDS [8]

Women & Gender [14]

Lucia Afiki and Esther Goodson are living positively with HIV. They are counselors for family planning and HIV & AIDS at Salima District Hospital in Malawi, where they openly tell their clients that they are HIV-positive. “When we are open with them about our status,” says Afiki, “people say, ‘Come closer, we want to learn from you.’” Goodson adds: “They say, ‘What should I do to look as good as you?’” The counselors tell them to visit a doctor and join a support group. This is an approach that saves lives. It also transforms social norms about health and gender.

BASICS Expanding HIV Testing and Counseling to Lake Chirwa Basin, Malawi [21]

C Mauluka [22]

Health Systems Strengthening [4]

HIV & AIDS [8]

A Health Surveillance Assistant offers HIV-Testing and Counseling (HTC) in a Resthouse Room at Sombi

Picture trees, water, mountains, mud, birds and fish. This is Lake Chirwa -- the second largest of the five lakes in Malawi and the main habitat of small fish called Matemba. The lake offers a trading opportunity for fishermen from many walks of life.

Lying in the southern region of Malawi, Lake Chirwa is a wetland for people of three districts: Phalombe, Zomba and Machinga. All these people have frequent contact with Mozambique as they lie near the bordering frontiers. The lake lies some 50km from Zomba District Health Office.

Promoting Community-Based Couples Counseling in Malawi [24]

H Anderson [25]

HIV & AIDS [8]

Women & Gender [14]

A couple from Malawi receives counseling from a Community-Based Distribution Agent (CBDA)

In Kasungu District, Malawi, trained Community-Based Distribution Agents (CBDAs) gather for their final and perhaps most challenging training: couples counseling.

With HIV, couples often do not freely discuss issues and concerns. “Where communication has been a problem for couples, CBDAs in underserved areas will help in risk reduction,” explains Jane Ngwira, MSH’s Kasungu District Coordinator.

Read more [24]

Links
[1] http://www.msh.org/blog/2011/09/13/new-program-educates-health-sector-executives-in-kenya#comments
[2] http://www.msh.org/blog/2011/09/13/new-program-educates-health-sector-executives-in-kenya
[3] http://www.msh.org/users/kathryn-steger
[4] http://www.msh.org/blog-categories/health-systems-strengthening
[5] http://www.msh.org/blog/2011/09/14/challenges-of-working-in-a-vast-scarcely-populated-province-in-south-africa#comments
[6] http://www.msh.org/blog/2011/09/14/challenges-of-working-in-a-vast-scarcely-populated-province-in-south-africa
[7] http://www.msh.org/users/mupela-ntengu
[8] http://www.msh.org/blog-categories/hiv-aids
[9] http://www.msh.org/projects/sps/Index2.cfm
[10] http://www.msh.org/blog/2011/09/19/mary-umoh-ambassador-for-msh-at-international-aids-society-conference#comments
[11] http://www.msh.org/blog/2011/09/19/mary-umoh-ambassador-for-msh-at-international-aids-society-conference
[12] http://www.msh.org/blog/2011/09/20/fostering-economic-opportunity-for-nigerias-hiv-positive-women#comments
[13] http://www.msh.org/blog/2011/09/20/fostering-economic-opportunity-for-nigerias-hiv-positive-women
[14] http://www.msh.org/blog-categories/women-gender
[15] http://www.msh.org/global-presence/proact.cfm
[16] http://www.msh.org/global-presence/sub-saharan-africa/nigeria.cfm
[17] http://www.msh.org/blog/2011/09/20/there%E2%80%99s-more-to-the-story-overcoming-tenacious-gender-inequity-for-greater-health#comments
[18] http://www.msh.org/blog/2011/09/20/there%E2%80%99s-more-to-the-story-overcoming-tenacious-gender-inequity-for-greater-health
[19] http://www.msh.org/users/jonathan-d-quick-md-mph
[20] http://www.msh.org/blog/2011/09/28/basics-expanding-hiv-testing-and-counseling-to-lake-chirwa-basin-malawi#comments
[21] http://www.msh.org/blog/2011/09/28/basics-expanding-hiv-testing-and-counseling-to-lake-chirwa-basin-malawi
[22] http://www.msh.org/users/cmauluka
[23] http://www.msh.org/blog/2011/09/28/promoting-community-based-couples-counseling-in-malawi#comments
[24] http://www.msh.org/blog/2011/09/28/promoting-community-based-couples-counseling-in-malawi
[25] http://www.msh.org/users/handerson