Zambia has made significant progress in moving towards HIV epidemic control in recent years. However, additional work is needed to increase treatment coverage and reach the most vulnerable populations, especially adolescent girls and young women, and mobile and hard to reach populations who are disproportionately affected. The USAID Action to HIV Epidemic Control Project, also known as USAID Action HIV, is designed to reduce HIV-related mortality, morbidity, and transmission and enhance comprehensive HIV prevention, care, and treatment maintenance services.
The USAID Action HIV project aims to provide comprehensive HIV prevention, care, and treatment maintenance services in Zambia’s Luapula, Muchinga, and Northern provinces.
BACKGROUND
USAID Action HIV aims to reduce HIV mortality, morbidity, and transmission by achieving the joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) goal of 95/95/95 HIV treatment coverage, meaning 95 percent of people know their HIV status, 95 percent of people who are HIV positive are on treatment, and 95 percent of people on treatment are virally suppressed. The project strengthens systems and provides direct service delivery at provincial, district, facility, and community level, with high HIV burden districts prioritized to achieve maximum impact.
GOALS
Goal one
- Ensure access to comprehensive HIV prevention interventions
Goal two
- Initiate 95 percent of those who tested positive on antiretroviral therapy (ART), and ensure that 95 percent of those on ART are virally suppressed
Goal three
- Strengthen monitoring and evaluation capacity at the facility, district, and provincial levels for improved program management; strengthen facility-level commodity management to mitigate the risk of stock outs; and, strengthen the public financial management systems of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Finance to enable the efficient use of direct government-to-government funds from USAID.
2023 KEY RESULTS
- Out of the 109,937 pregnant women who attended antenatal care services, 108,934 had a known HIV status. The 1,003 women without a known HIV status were tested during subsequent visits to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV during pregnancy.
- Administered an early infant diagnosis test to 6,349 infants exposed to HIV within their first 12 months of birth.
- Integrated voluntary family planning services into 614 health service delivery sites (out of a total of 812 supported sites) making it easier for people to access family planning and HIV services at the same time.
- Provided 41,063 males aged 15-29 years with Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision through outreach activities to schools, markets, recreation centers, and bus stations.
- Provided 23,455 people with Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)
|
