Community and Home-Based Palliative Care
FHI/PNG is providing training on home-based care for people living with AIDS, their families, and healthcare workers; developing tools for monitoring and evaluation, patient’s forms, and standard operating procedures; and adapting training curriculum to provide quality home-based care services and community approaches to palliative care. FHI/PNG is also working with the National AIDS Council Secretariat and National Department of Health to strengthen national systems and standards for home-based care and assists community consultations designed to reduce the stigma that affects people living with AIDS.
Continuum of Prevention to Care and Treatment (CoPCT)
FHI’s focus is on strengthening government institutional care and services, NGOs/FBOs, and PLHIV support group.
System and Organization Strengthening
- Participating in, and providing resources for, the development of national frameworks, strategies, guidelines, SOPs, training curricula, and communications materials.
- Assisting in the development of national strategic plans (NAC, NDoH).
- Developing the organizational capacity of implementing partner NGOs, Provincial AIDS Committee and PLHIV support group.
- Strengthening coordination, collaboration and referrals at all levels through the CoPCT coordination committee at the provincial and district level
- Improve the quality of services, linkages, referral and follow-up system for patients within the hospital and from the hospital to the health center and community level
- Improvement of data collection, recording and reporting
Prevention Programming
FHI/PNG is supporting partner implementing agency in reaching out the most-at-risk groups—particularly female sex workers, their clients and men who have sex with men—to educate them about HIV/AIDS/STI, encourage them to adopt safer sex practices, and promote their access to treatment, testing, counseling, and care. FHI/PNG trains peer educators to offer prevention information and behavior-change counseling, and provides other training in the areas of STI management and care, voluntary counseling and testing, laboratory work; and building capacities of partners to plan, implement, manage, monitoring and evaluation and financial management.
Real Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS
The need to reduce discrimination against PLHIV in Papua New Guinea exists both within the health system as well as in the communities. FHI /PNG working with the PLHIV support groups and focused on reducing stigma and discrimination through education for PLHIV and families, engagement, capacity building, interaction and involvement of PLHIVs in service delivery serving as a member of the HIV clinic case management team, adherence counselors and providing care and support at the community level; and member of the Continuum of Prevention to Care and Treatment Coordination Committee.
OUR PROJECTS
Helvim Bilong Yumi (Our Help)
FHI is working with HOPE worldwide on the Helvim Bilong Yumi Project, which reaches out to most-at-risk groups—particularly female sex workers and men who have sex with men. It educates them about HIV and AIDS, encourages them to adopt safe sex practices, and promotes their access to treatment, testing, counseling, and care. FHI/PNG trains peer educators to offer prevention information and behavior-change counseling, and offers other training in the areas of STI management and care, voluntary counseling and testing, laboratory work, monitoring and evaluation, and financial management.
Lukautim Laif Noho Namo (Protect Your Life Now)
FHI/PNG signed a sub-agreement with the PNG Red Cross Society National Capital District/Central Branch to support the HIV prevention program Lukautim Laif Noho Namo. FHI provided training on rapid formative assessments, HIV/AIDS education, behavior change communication, monitoring and evaluation, voluntary counseling and testing, and services relating to sexually transmitted infections.
Mauri Namona Oi Maurilaia (You Live a Good Life)
FHI/PNG entered into a sub-agreement with the Salvation Army to build skills in HIV care of people living with AIDS and their caregivers, families, and friends. The project also supports the establishment of a new, accredited voluntary counseling and testing site at the Salvation Army Care Center.
Poro Sapot
FHI/PNG partnered with Save the Children in PNG to train peer educators and outreach volunteers to provide information on preventing HIV infection, condom use, and referrals to drop-in, counseling, testing, and treatment centers in the National Capital District. These centers include the clinic at 9 Mile, as well as the Poro Sapot clinic, now an accredited site for voluntary counseling and testing and confidential treatment of sexually transmitted infections. More complicated cases are referred to the Heduru Clinic at Port Moresby General Hospital.
Sirus Naraqi
FHI/PNG partnered with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'i in PNG for this project, which is named for a Baha'i physician who made major contributions to the country's health system. FHI provided technical assistance to develop low-literacy learning materials used by the National Spiritual Assembly's network of tutors, and helped to train them to provide education about safer sex practices and HIV and AIDS and make clinic referrals in the areas of the country experiencing the highest prevalence—National Capital District and Central Province.
Tingim Laip
FHI/PNG provides technical assistance and training in behavior change communication for this AusAID-funded project, and assists with rapid formative assessment at Tingim Laip sites. Also providing technical assistance to develop targeted Information Education and Communication (IEC) materials. Tingim Laip sites are located in 11 Provinces round PNG and FHI is working in collaboration with 3 other international agencies.
