FHI Launches Mobile Health Clinics in Rural South Africa

JUNE 2008—Nearly one of every four babies born in South Africa tests positive for HIV. This tragic number could be significantly reduced by combining family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention services. Family Health International (FHI) and the Project Support Association of Southern Africa (PSASA) partnered last month to launch mobile clinics to do just that. The clinics provide rural South Africans who would otherwise have to walk for days to access care with HIV counseling, testing, referrals to treatment, and a variety of reproductive health services, including family planning.

Family planning has a critical role to play in curbing the HIV/AIDS epidemic," says FHI/South Africa Country Director Dr. Sonja Pilusa. "Among HIV-infected women, the prevention of unintended pregnancies is essential for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV and reducing the number of children orphaned."

Housed in vans, the clinics are equipped with space for counseling and testing, an exam table, and pharmaceutical storage. Fold-away seats, a collapsing table, and a tent-awning are set up once the destination is reached. An outdoor examination area is created for nurses to take patient histories, measure blood pressure, and conduct basic examinations. Staffed by two nurses and a health educator, the vans travel to remote areas of Kwa-Zulu Natal and Limpopo provinces, and the Gert Sibande district in Mpumalanga.

In many poorer areas of the country where the healthcare system is overburdened, community volunteers trained by PSASA provide integrated palliative care for sick people. The mobile clinics will visit these communities as well as surrounding areas that lack healthcare facilities.

FHI and PSASA are dedicated to using a holistic approach. The mobile clinic staff will provide HIV counseling and testing, referral to antiretroviral therapy, and referrals to other services as needed. Just as importantly, staff will counsel patients about contraceptives, and provide them with the appropriate tools to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Staff will also be equipped to do cervical swabs and tuberculosis screenings.

The three new clinics are a welcome addition to an existing mobile service unit that has been operated by FHI and PSASA since 2007.

Funding from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) support the project. The Kwa-Zulu Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga Departments of Health provide medical supplies to the mobile clinics.

—Jill Moffett

PHOTOS: Toyota panel vans equipped as mobile clinics will provide many rural South Africans with HIV counseling, testing and referrals to treatment, as well as a variety of reproductive health services. (FHI/South Africa) 

The Project Support Association of Southern Africa's (PSASA) mission is to create community partnerships that enhance their ability to prevent, mitigate and alleviate the impact of HIV and AIDS. PSASA grew from a small local committee in the small mining town of Kriel in Mpumalanga in 1996 to a large organization supporting over 120 projects—community-peer education, home-based care, and orphan care—in several South African provinces. PSASA is a major support and training resource for organizations in South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.