FHI - FHI/PNG Offers Seminar on the Prevention-to-Care Continuum

MARCH 2008 — On Feb. 14, FHI/PNG hosted a seminar in Port Moresby on the continuum of prevention to care, in collaboration with the National Capital District (NCD) Provincial AIDS Committee Secretariat. In attendance were US Ambassador Leslie Rowe, Minister for Community Development Dame Carol Kidu, and 85 participants representing key partners in the government and private sector, national and provincial NGOs, and faith- and community-based organizations. Igat Hope, an organization for people living with HIV in PNG, and youth and women's groups were represented, as were donor partners: the Clinton Foundation, the World Health Organization, the Global Fund, AusAID, and UNAIDS.

FHI Country Director Nayer Kaviani welcomed stakeholders and explained the continuum of prevention to care. It entails the development of systems that provide high-quality, comprehensive, continuing, and multilevel prevention, care, and treatment, and has been implemented successfully in many countries in the region. It requires working together, networking, and collaborating at all levels—an inclusive approach that values and counts all efforts. People living with HIV and providers of community and home-based care are effectively involved in areas such as voluntary counseling and testing (VCT), adherence counseling and support for antiretroviral treatment (ART), self-care education, and the management of opportunistic infections.

FHI Senior Technical Advisor Tess Prombuth addressed the implementation framework of the continuum of prevention to care, and was followed by a presentation by the Provincial AIDS Committee Secretariat on community mapping of services now being provided in the NCD. These include VCT in six centers, ART services in the Heduru Clinic (part of the Port Moresby General Hospital) and recently rolled-out STI services in the Nine Mile and Lawes Road clinics. (FHI/PNG also recently hosted a seminar on the management of STIs)

The mapping revealed the need for community and home-based care interventions, as only two organizations provide community and home-based care in Port Moresby. It also revealed that the activities of many NGOs and community-based organizations working in the HIV response in local communities are not coordinated with the Provincial AIDS Committee Secretariat and that gaps exist in the management of in-patient and out-patient referrals for services.

PHOTO: Left to right, sitting: Her Excellency US Ambassador Leslie Rowe, MP and Minister for Community Development Dame Carol Kidu, FHI Country Director Nayer Kaviani

Left to right, standing: FHI Senior Technical Advisor Tess Prombuth, NCD Provincial AIDS Committee Secretariat HIV Response Coordinator Isu Alluvula, FHI Technical Officer Caroline Ugava, NCD Provincial AIDS Committee Secretariat Volunteer on COPCT Ben Maraga, NCD Provincial AIDS Committee Secretariat Care and Counseling Coordinator Rose Apini, FHI Program Officer Darly Raka