Ethiopian Officials Visit Ghana to Learn About HIV Programs for Uniformed Services

AUGUST 2004 — Representatives of the uniformed services of Ethiopia's Southern Nations and Nationalities Peoples Region (SNNPR), one of the country's 11 states, spent five days in Ghana recently to learn about HIV/AIDS programs for the Ghanaian uniformed services. The study tour was organized and supported by the IMPACT Project to promote the exchange of best practices and lessons learned among the uniformed services in countries affected by the epidemic.

Accompanied by FHI staff, six officials from the SNNPR police, prison and health departments visited program sites in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, and Kofridua, a region in eastern Ghana; listened to presentations by officials from Ghana's uniformed services; and participated in a day-long lessons learned workshop with their Ghanaian counterparts.

In Accra, Dr. Godfried Asimah, assistant commissioner of police and public health physicians and manager of Ghana's HIV/AIDS programming within the police services, and Dr. Victor Brankoplampa, general medical director of the Police General Hospital, spoke to the Ethiopian team about incorporating an HIV/AIDS curriculum into the training that police recruits receive at five training centers throughout Ghana. The visitors were invited to one of the centers in Accra, where they spoke to AIDS educators about the curriculum and the importance of involving police administrators in the program. In Kofridua, the Ethiopian team met with more than 150 members of the regional police force to discuss the Ghanaian police peer education program and to share information about the epidemic in Ethiopia.
The curriculum and peer education efforts are part of a larger program for the Ghanaian police that also includes condom promotion, targeted behavior change interventions and "sensitization sessions" to raise awareness. A related activity is the Ghana Police VCT Project, initiated in 2002, which promotes voluntary counseling and HIV testing (VCT) for police and provides services throughout the country.

After returning to Ethiopia, the study tour participants conducted a workshop to share what they learned in Ghana with other SNNPR State officials, as well as with zonal and district-level police officials. Senior SNNPR police leaders have since committed themselves to creating an enabling environment for HIV program implementation among the police forces. In October 2004, peer leadership program implementation and related capacity building will be enhanced with refresher training for core program trainers.