Global Fund, GLIA

Services Provided

In June and July 2006, on request of the German BACKUP Initiative by GIZ and in partnership with GLIA, elaborated a regional intervention concept and proposal entitled Controlling Opportunistic Diseases in the African Great Lakes Region, which was submitted to GFATM.

Background

The proposed project intended to tackle the challenge of HIV-related opportunistic and neglected tropical diseases in the African Great Lakes region, including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. It recognized that the challenge posed by the abode diseases had never been systematically addressed in the region.

The proposed project pursued two principal goals:

• To empower existing health systems to address opportunistic diseases efficiently, appropriately and swiftly
• To improve financial and geographical access to the diagnosis and treatment of opportunistic and neglected tropical diseases, with special focus on mobile populations

In order to achieve this, the project proposes the following core interventions:

• To establish a regional epidemiological surveillance centre linked to existing national centres of disease control
• To assist national AIDS control programmes with the training of trainers and the development of IEC material for knowledge and skills dissemination in opportunistic and neglected tropical diseases
• To augment commodity management capacity in reagents and drugs
• To subcontract a network of private drug providers along the principal transportation corridors in the region to facilitate continuous drug provision for mobile population
• To co-finance prioritised reagents and drugs essential for the diagnosis and treatment of HIV-related opportunistic and neglected tropical diseases
• To lobby on a regional and international bases for affordable quality diagnostics and treatment of HIV-related opportunistic and neglected tropical diseases

The project anticipated the following outcomes:

• A significant decrease in morbidity and mortality attributable to opportunistic and neglected tropical diseases among PLWHA
• Facilitated financial access of PLWHA to respective diagnostics and treatment
• Improvement to the entire health information system and medical commodities management in all GLIA countries with a significant contribution to general health system strengthening
• Enhanced knowledge of the general population in opportunistic and neglected tropical diseases, with reduced incidence especially among vulnerable and mobile populations

Reference

Andreas Kalk, Country Director, GIZ, Cameroon