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HIV/AIDS Care and Support |
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Until recently, most HIV/AIDS programs in non-industrialized countries neglected care and support for people living with HIV, their families, and communities.
Many governments and donor agencies supporting HIV/AIDS programs chose to focus solely on prevention because they believed that preventing HIV infection would obviate the need for care and support and because of the high costs.
But innovative community-based projects early in the AIDS pandemic responded to care and support needs by linking with medical and social support services to provide medical treatment for opportunistic infections, counseling support, palliative care, and support for dependents and orphans.
These experiences showed that improving access to HIV/AIDS care and support services helps destigmatize HIV, improves demand for voluntary counseling and HIV testing services, and allows for early management and prevention of infectious diseases (such as TB) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), among both HIV-positive and -negative people.
Providing these services likewise creates opportunities for HIV prevention.
For these reasons, national and local strategic plans in many countries increasingly include synergistic programming that links prevention with care and support.
Each community, region, and country needs to strengthen some level of HIV care and support. But difficult choices have to be made in each setting about the level of care and support that is feasible and affordable in the short term and what can be attained in the future.
Strategies and national standards are needed to guide both the allocation of resources and the implementation of HIV care and support activities at various levels. Strengthening community, regional, and national capacity to implement comprehensive care and support programs will make it possible to demonstrate how cost-effective approaches can be replicated, scaled up, and sustained.
Comprehensive HIV/AIDS care and support includes:
Related FHI publications |
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