At the request of USAID/Haiti and the Ministry of Health (MOH), Family Health International initiated activities in Haiti in 1997 under the IMPACT Project. The overall goal of IMPACT/Haiti was to work with Haiti's MOH and its partners to implement the country's National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS, which aims to reduce the risk for HIV transmission, mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS, and reduce the vulnerability of Haitian people to HIV.
IMPACT/Haiti activities focused on capacity building and providing direct mentorship, leadership, and technical assistance to the MOH/Haiti and its partners. Through support from USAID/Haiti and in a coordinated effort with a range of international and local partners, FHI helped the government ensure quality and effective HIV/AIDS programming in the country. This complemented the ongoing activities of other agencies and organizations working on HIV/AIDS in Haiti and incorporated a participatory approach to working in the country. Throughout IMPACT activities, FHI's primary role was to provide technical assistance to the MOH, which directly implemented activities.
Initially, IMPACT/Haiti concentrated its efforts on key interventions such as
- behavior change and prevention interventions — These activities supported USAID/Haiti intermediate result (IR): 3.3.1 "effective HIV/AIDS prevention to care" targeting youth, commercial sex workers (CSW), and men who have sex with men (MSM) through peer education, social marketing of condoms, behavior change communication (BCC), and multimedia campaigns.
- support and care activities for orphans and other vulnerable children and people living with HIV/AIDS — This supported USAID/Haiti IR: 3.3.1 by providing community-based care and support programs with support groups and psychosocial assistance.
- advocacy and institutional support — These activities supported USAID/Haiti IR: 3.3.4, "strengthened disease surveillance systems and related laboratory and diagnosis infrastructure" through site renovation and implementation of networks involved in advocacy against HIV/AIDS.
- strategic information/research — A behavioral surveillance survey supported USAID/Haiti IRs 3.3.1 and 3.3.4.
After the review of program activities and the development of the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan for 2000–2005, IMPACT/Haiti expanded its program activities to include additional technical areas, with the goal of
- expanding and improving voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services
- strengthening targeted behavior change interventions
- improving targeted interventions for groups that engage in high-risk behaviors
- improving care and support services, including home- and community-based care and HIV clinical care and treatment
- strengthening strategic planning, monitoring, evaluation, and surveillance capacities and systems.
