Advertisement

JHPIEGO: Capacity building healthcare workers to enhance attainment of universal health care in East Africa

Wednesday December 28 2022
Community health workers

Community health workers Elizabeti Chibelenje (left) and Lucas Madeha receive a phone call during the door-to-door vaccine campaign under the Momentum Country Global Leadership which is implemented by Jhpiego Tanzania and being funded by the USAID.

Impact of USAID Afya Yangu-RMNCAH project in Tanzania

380 – Number of existing and new clinical mentors strengthened within the first year of implementation of the project.

5,339+ – Number of health care workers involved in the project.

1,663 – Number of health facilities involved in the project.

JHPIEGO continues to strengthen healthcare services in the EAC region

JHPIEGO has through its programmes in East African Community (EAC) member states been accelerating the access to universal healthcare by building the capacity of healthcare personnel. From supporting the national response to COVID-19, to accelerating the adherence to HIV treatment and care, maternal healthcare to enhancing the uptake of healthcare services, JHPIEGO is steadily accelerating its impact across the region. These interventions have increased efficiencies in adherence to treatment regimens for HIV, accelerated HIV screening and improved maternal and child health. This is steadily improving healthcare outcomes in the region.

Advertisement
Covid-19 vaccination in Dodoma

A healthcare provider Nahali Modesti vaccinates Christine Matinya against Covid-19 in Dodoma region while Christine Amani Mwalimu (right) registers Christine's details.

TANZANIA

MCGL accelerates the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine in Tanzania

JHPIEGO, through its programs, supported the national response for COVID-19 including strengthening case management in Zanzibar and introducing and scaling up COVID-19 vaccination efforts across both Mainland and Tanzania. During July-September 2022 reporting period, JHPIEGO led project dubbed Momentum Country and Global Leadership(MCGL) attained various new heights.

MCGL supported Regional/Council Health Management Teams(R/CHMT) in 53 district councils in Tanzania. The aim was to facilitate COVID-19 intensification and accelerate uptake of COVID-19 vaccination services.

The project also supported R/CHMTs to conduct mass vaccination campaigns linked with facility-led outreach services for increasing COVID-19 vaccine uptake in highly unvaccinated dense areas in MCGL supported regions: Morogoro, Dodoma, Arusha, Manyara, Singida, Kagera and Kilimanjaro. The project successfully conducted 272 outreaches and 23 campaigns. Implementation approaches included door-to-door outreach to accelerate uptake of Covid-19 vaccination services in Arusha, Morogoro, Dodoma, Singida, Manyara and Kagera regions.

Ongoing Jhpiego Tanzania Projects

  1. USAID Afya Yangu – Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH).
  2. Momentum Country and Global Leadership.
  3. Reaching Impact, Saturation and Epidemic Control (RISE).
  4. The Challenge Initiative (TCI).

KENYA

JHPIEGO accelerates community uptake of health services in Kenya

Kenya faces a myriad of challenges in maternal and child health. The ministry of health reports that as at 2020, the country’s infant mortality rate (IMR) stood at 35.5 deaths per 1,000 live births, while under-five mortality rate was 52.2 deaths per 1,000 live births. The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is 355 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births while in some counties as high as 641 deaths per 100,000 live births.  The COVID-19 pandemic adds to the pot of challenges the county is facing.

Dismal access to care, due to a lack of knowledge of infrastructural challenges, contributes to the poor health indicators. Jhpiego Kenya works with the ministry of health to tackle the challenges from a multipronged approach from the supply side which is service provision and demand side which is the communities seeking care.

Jhpiego Kenya utilises the elaborate community health system to encourage community’s uptake of health services. The country office has built the capacity of community health workers to offer health education to households about life saving interventions such as the importance of attending all of the eight WHO-recommended antenatal visits. Through the project the Antenatal and Postnatal Care Research Collective (ARC/PNC Jhpiego Kenya has worked with health facilities to create Goup Antenatal Care (GANC) where health professionals offer antenatal care to a group of 8 to 12 pregnant women with similar estimated due dates.

TCI Beneficiaries

TCI beneficiaries

UGANDA

Boosting the effectiveness of HIV care in Uganda

In Uganda, JHPIEGO has built the capacity of 358 health workers and equipped 121 health facilities to provide quality RMNCAH, HIV, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services. It has also built a tele-mentoring network with seven national and 11 regional hubs. JHPIEGO has also innovatively integrated mental health into HIV services using the Common Elements Treatment Approach (CETA).

In the last 5 years, Jhpiego Uganda in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, has through donor funding, implemented various projects:

  1. The USAID/PMI funded Malaria Action Program for Districts (MAPD)
  2. The Challenge Initiative (TCI), a global program funded by consortium of donors; Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, Bayer and Comic Relief
  3. The Improving Quality of Care Across RMNCAH, HIV, and Nutrition (IMPROQ) funded by UNICEF
  4. The Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Quality Improvement in West Nile and Acholi (ANSWER) funded by UNFPA
  5. The Momentum Country and Global Leadership (MCGL) funded by USAID as global program
  6. The Uganda Reproductive Maternal Child Health Improvement Project (URMCHIP) funded by World bank through Ministry of Health
  7. The South to South Learning Exchange (SSLE) between Nigeria and Uganda, global program funded by World Health Organization
  8. The Skills sharing project (SSP) funded by CDC through Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
  9. The Performance Monitoring for Action (PMA), global program funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
  10. The Health Workforce in the Twenty-first century (HW21) funded by CDC through Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) now transitioned to Global Reach II
  11. Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) funded by CDC

With these projects JHPIEGO was able to build a strong working relationships and trust with Ministry of Health, donor agencies, implementing partners, stakeholders and beneficiaries. The have a footprint in 66 districts of the 146 in Uganda with high impact and lifesaving interventions.

Strategic focus in the next 5 years

  1. Grow Jhpiego Uganda portfolio and footprint in Uganda from 66 districts to over 100 districts.
  2. Diversify funding streams to entrench ourselves in that funding.
  3. Drive up Jhpiego brand to increasingly be associated with the highest possible quality.

SOUTH SUDAN

ACHIEVE Project transforms HIV care in South Sudan

ACHIEVE South Sudan started in January 2020, scaling up enrolment of children and adolescents living with HIV into Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program as priority group in line with PEPFAR guidance. In COP20, the project expanded OVC activities in Juba and started implementing DREAMS to reach adolescent girls and youth women (AGYW) – the first DREAMS project in South Sudan. 

DREAMS is an HIV prevention program whose goal is to reduce new HIV infections amongst vulnerable girls and young women aged between 15 and 24. The program combines evidence-based approaches to address the structural drivers that directly, and indirectly increase girls’ HIV risk, including poverty, gender inequality, sexual violence, and a lack of education.

The OVC program supports orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) with comprehensive case management services for children and adolescents living with HIV, children of HIV positive caregivers, children of female sex workers, HIV exposed infants (HEI) and survivors of violence against children (SVAC). The program utilses a family-centered approach which enables the provision of differentiated services to vulnerable households through jointly developed and tailored case plans.

The DREAMS program targets girls and young women with a host of activities including: life skills education in safe spaces using the Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) curriculum. It also focuses on economic strengthening through vocational training in different short- and long-term courses.

The program collaborates with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) one stop centre at Juba Teaching Hospital and Reproductive Health Association of South Sudan (RHASS) where girls and young women are referred for appropriate services.

ACHIEVE COP21 results

  • 4,658 – Total number of beneficiaries.
  • 1,000 – Number of girls and young women under OVC services.
  • 2,344 – Number of OVC aged over 18 years who have a known HIV status. Of these, 508 (22.0 per cent) are HIV positive, 100 per cent of whom are initiated on ART.
  • 1,295 – Number of active caregivers, 97.3 per cent (1,260/1,295) who have a known HIV status, of which 76.1 per cent (959/1,260) are HIV positive
  • 248 – Number of beneficiaries received education support to boost school retention and progression (128 females, 120 males) aged 1-17 years and 18-20 years.
  • USD8,699 – Total amount in savings mobilised across the 21 savings and internal lending communities (SILC) groups in COP21
  • 8 – Number of parenting groups in Munuki, Juba, Rejaf, and Kator payams who have completed the 14 sessions of the Sinovuyo positive parenting curriculum for teens.
  • 2,527 – Number of adolescent girls and young women who have received life skills and Social Asset Building education in 48 safe spaces.