Reverend Charles Irongo and his wife Edith are happy to tell couples in their congregation how they used contraception to space their four children. The reverend, an Archdeacon at the Kyando Anglican Church of Uganda in southeastern Uganda, sees a clear connection between the church’s role in spiritual matters and health issues, like healthy timing and spacing of children.
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Meskerem Mekiso leads a small business enterprise in Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR). She supervises seven employees—three women and four men—who install local area networks (LANs) in the district’s health facilities.
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Hawas Health Center in Adama Town, Ethiopia, is bustling with activity as health workers prepare for the morning staff meeting. Negash Ali, head of the health center, meets with all case team members to discuss their daily plans before the center opens. With approximately 200 patients attending the clinic each day, Hawas is one of the area’s busiest facilities. |
In November 2018, the USAID-funded Advancing Partners & Communities project began to revitalize the Facility Management Committee and provide refresher programs on the FMC’s responsibilities and commitments to their Peripheral Health Unit.
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In November 2018, the Advancing Partners & Communities project came to Mayossoh MCHP to meet with the FMC. They provided refresher training to the FMC on their role in supporting and maintaining the facility.
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Mr. Bio Sounon Bouco, who has been mayor of Tchaourou since 2008, understands that investing in health programming is critical to his district’s prosperity. Until the USAID-funded Advancing Partners & Communities (APC) project, however, he did not realize the importance of community-based health strategies or how he could support them.
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WellShare International is integrating DMPA SC self-injection in six sub-counties of Iganga and Bugweri Districts, Uganda in the context of a full and informed choice family planning program. Community Health Workers, known as Village Health Team (VHT) members in Uganda, and health workersoffered injectable contraceptives within youth-friendly community-based family planning services.
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Patient navigators community leaders and peers are (members of key population groups and most on treatment themselves) who support linkage to care and follow up for newly diagnosed HIV individuals and provide essential counseling to strengthen treatment adherence.
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At the end of March 2018, there was a 71 percent data discrepancy between pre-ART patients reported in the government’s FAPPS database (a component of the national HIV services information system) and the pre-ART patients reported after reviewing medical records at the six clinical sites supported by APC in the Dominican Republic.
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Since initiation of Test and START at six APC-supported clinical sites in FY17, the average number of days from diagnosis to initiation of treatment for newly diagnosed patients dropped from 30 days to seven days by September 2017, and was further reduced to an average 3.9 days by September 2018.
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As Guinea’s Ebola survivors recovered from the virus and were discharged from Ebola treatment centers, they faced a new and perhaps even more difficult situation, coming home. The APC project engaged people from 60 communities in the districts most affected by the Ebola outbreak to combat stigma that prevents survivors from reintegrating into their communities and getting the health care they need.
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Zewdinesh and Mekdes are health extension workers (HEWs) who provide basic health services to about 9,980 people in Chancho Buba Kebele of Sululta Woreda in Oromia. Health posts are staffed by two or more HEWs, who also make house-to-house visits to provide services to pregnant women, children, and other family members.
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Advancing Partners & Communities selected the Liberia College of Physicians and Surgeons, a graduate medical residency program that supports advanced training for physicians across a range of medical specialties, to independently manage the complex medical and surgical cases of Ebola survivors, as well as to offer specialty care to the general population.
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Advancing Partners & Communities supported a post-basic mental health training program at the Phebe Paramedical Training Institute to reduce barriers to mental health care in Liberia. The program has trained 38 mental health clinicians to better understand, screen for, and provide mental health services.
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This short story highlights the work that Guinea’s national Ebola survivor network, RENASEG, has accomplished with its 24 member organizations. The network’s vice president, Seny Yvonne Loua, explains what her group has done to help create jobs for Ebola survivors.
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When 11-year-old Kadiatu lost her hearing after surviving Ebola, a survivor advocate helped ensure she received appropriate treatment.
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Isatu Bangura was illiterate when she joined Advancing Partners & Communities' adult literacy program for Ebola survivors in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Now, she can read and write simple sentences and is on the path to self-reliance.
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Under PEPFAR, USAID provides financial support to the Muñoz Clinic through the APC project for the provision of HIV care and treatment for migrant populations, most of who are of Haitian descent and live in very poor communities known as bateyes.
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Since October 2016, IDEV has been implementing the WHO-recommended "Treatment for All" policy which involves immediate initiation of ART for individuals newly diagnosed with HIV, regardless of their CD4 cell count.
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Sorie Samura is a referral coordinator in charge of referrals from peripheral health units and district hospitals across Sierra Leone for all Ebola survivors requiring tertiary care.
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A Survivor Advocate helped Ebola survivor Dora Dumbuya access appropriate health services—and ultimately surgery that saved her life.
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Peace Hene hails from the Volta region of Ghana. She has been a volunteer health worker since 2012 and joined HealthKeepers Network about two years ago.
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Francis Amenuve is a HealthKeeper and a subsistence farmer. He attributes his success in getting people to adopt health-promoting practice with his respect for their choices and their privacy.
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Amina Amidu is a smart and hardworking young lady who works with the Kayayei (Head Porters) Youth Association in Agbogbloshie, a suburb of Accra. She joined the HealthKeepers Network after learning about it from the leader of the Youth Association.
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Peace Kpodo, a health worker with HealthKeepers Network, provides services including education on family planning; dispelling myths and misconceptions about HIV and AIDS; and promoting and selling family planning commodities.
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Believe Semakor is a community health worker who has worked with HealthKeepers Network for almost two years.
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Mariatu Conteh received life-saving dialysis under the Free Health Care Initiative with the help of Referral Coordinator Momoh Brima in Sierra Leone.
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A mother of four and a first-year physician’s assistant trainee at the Tubman National Institute of Medical Arts, Jimaima was interning at the John Yekeh Memorial Clinic in Monrovia when she contracted the Ebola virus disease. Advancing Partners & Communities was critical in helping Jimaima find the necessary care post-Ebola.
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As part of its efforts to overcome stigma and discrimination challenges, APC conducted quarterly sensitization sessions at Guyanese HIV care and treatment sites. In 2017, 66 people, including medical doctors, nurses, community health workers, auxiliary staff, and security personnel, participated.
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Michelle, a client advocate associate with the APC project in Guyana, links people who are newly diagnosed with HIV to care and treatment, and helps people who have stopped coming for care to return.
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Implementation of Test and START at the six PEPFAR/USAID-supported HIV clinics has reduced the patient treatment initiation window from 30 days in early 2017, to an average of seven days by September, extending the benefits to patients and the health system.
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In October 2017, the HIV clinic at Ricardo Limardo, a public hospital partnered with APC grantee, the Center for Human Promotion and Solidarity (CEPROSH) and the community-based organization Grupo Clara to improve the quality of their HIV services.
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To equip clergy to discuss and promote healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies, Christian Connections for International Health and Uganda Protestant Medical Bureau conducted a two-day training for a diverse group of religious leaders, including Catholic, Muslim, Pentecostal and Protestant leaders.
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Short story of how APC helped organize the leadership of the National Ebola Survivor Network of Liberia.
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In April 2016, the Government of Sierra Leone launched a post-Ebola recovery plan with USAID support, which involved rehabilitating more than 100 peripheral health units in five priority districts through the Advancing Partners & Communities project.
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Clínica de Familia’s HIV clinic in La Romana province of the Dominican Republic is helping gay men like Manuel get tested for HIV.
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Since October 2016, Advancing with Partners and Communities has been supporting implementation of Test and START in three provinces of the Dominican Republic. The Centro de Promoción y Solidaridad Humana (CEPROSH) HIV comprehensive care clinic in Puerto Plata is one of the clinics making a difference.
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Mykola Ruban an internally displaced person and wheelchair user from Ukraine received support from United Cerebral Palsy Wheels to pursue a new skill and give back to his community.
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WellShare International trained 257 village health team members in Uganda to provide adolescents with adolescent sexual and reproductive health counseling and family planning services.
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Yodalki, a health advocate who has worked for Grupo Este Amor in Eastern Dominican Republic for 14 years, uses his training in community counseling and support to fight for the rights of the LGBTI community and people living with HIV.
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Azalia has worked in his role as premium collector for 13 years, a role that involves not just collecting premiums, but also educating villagers about the CHF and the value in joining.
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Winfrida Visulo has worked as midwife and nurse manager at the Itepula Dispensary in Mbozi district for 16 years.
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Tumpe Mwakasungula has worked as a nurse midwife for 16 years in the Masukulu community of the Rungwe district and enjoys serving in the community.
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Edson Timothy Mwakanyamale was active in volunteer and administrative economic activities for many years in the Busokelo district before the village elected him to serve as chairperson of the Community Health Fund Users Association (CHFuA) six months ago.
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Leah Mwakinyuke always knew she wanted to be a nurse. She worked hard to overcome barriers to achieve her dream.
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Success story describing the work of two mental health nurses, Sahr Mortatay Momoh, who runs the Western Area Rural District Mental Health Unit at the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Hospital, and Mohamed James Koroma, Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) Nurse in the country’s only pediatric mental health clinic.
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Ms. Wongkham Seepanya, a Vientiane-based pediatric physical therapist at the Center for Medical Rehabilitation (CMR), attended a two-month Occupational Therapy Training at Khon Kaen University (KKU), supported by the USAID-funded World Education TEAM Project.
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As the only qualified doctor specializing in medical rehabilitation in Lao PDR, Associate Professor Dr. Bouathep Phoumindr is passionate about mentoring the next generation of doctors in physical medicine.
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Vieng Xaiyasin, a nurse from Mahosot Hospital attended a training held by World Education Laos, to help support cleft lip and palate surgery patients improve their speech.
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Sengdueane Phommy, or Lah as he is more commonly known, is a physical therapist at the Lao Friends Hospital for Children (LFHC) in Luang Prabang, Laos. Lah has been involved in the care and rehabilitation of many inspiring cases at the hospital.
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Antonio, better known as ‘Sir Paul,’ is one of the few openly gay men in his rural community, serving as an advocate for members of the LGBT community in Guyana.
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Shane's journey as a peer educator for HIV began after attending an HIV education session in 2008.
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For the past 15 years, Elizabeth Mc Almont has worked tirelessly to provide HIV education and other related services to a wide cross-section of persons in Guyana.
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A female community leader in Sierra Leone is able to improve water supply to her community's health facility through advocacy and community engagement.
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Post-Ebola, a facility management committee in Sierra Leone is encouraging women to return to health facilities to give birth.
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The Family Awareness Consciousness Togetherness (FACT) program in Guyana helped two sisters, who were made vulnerable by HIV, to break the cycle of poverty and attend university.
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APC worked with Peace Corps volunteers to conduct an Excel workshop for local NGOs in Benin.
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Ruby Mercenario is a 32-year-old transgender woman who receives care at the Francisco Gonzalvo public hospital in the La Romana province of the Dominican Republic. She praises the benefits of receiving services at a place free of stigma and discrimination.
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Kayla and Carlos are beneficiaries of the HIV Comprehensive Care Clinic at the Centro de Promoción y Solidaridad Humana, Inc. (CEPROSH) in the Puerto Plata province of the Dominican Republic.
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The Dominican Network for People Living with HIV (REDOVIH+) helped Rosanna Terrero give back to others.
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APC Benin provides capacity building and technical assistance to a group of local NGOs that implement health interventions in maternal and child health, family planning, and other areas.
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Twelve-year-old Maijua Wa was admitted to the Lao Friends Hospital for Children (LFHC) for chronic burns from a gas explosion she had sustained five months earlier. In the past several months, Maijua has received intensive medical and wound care from LFHC.
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One of the biggest challenges throughout the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone was a lack of water and sanitation, which led to poor implementation of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures at health facilities. In the post-Ebola context, as the country moves forward with its Health Sector Recovery Plan, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) is a priority.
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Fatmata, an MCH-aide assumed responsibility for a health post affected by Ebola in Sierra Leone, leaving behind her own community to help one with a greater need.
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D is 10 years old and lives with her mother and two half-siblings in a village in Cluj County, Romania. D has carnitine deficiency and severe psychomotor impairment.
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When Motivation Romania Foundation (MRF) met Marius, he was shy, not ready to use a wheelchair, and still looking for explanations. One year later, Marius left the MRF sports camp with a gold medal for wheelchair basketball and archery.
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Christine was a normal, developing 14-year-old child until 2013 when she developed sudden weakness in her legs. She spent a month at Kenyatta National Hospital and was diagnosed with a rare medical condition known as Guillen Barre Syndrome.
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Amalis and Kissairys are two sex workers in the Dominican Republic. They were introduced to HIV care through the Center for Comprehensive Orientation and Investigation's (COIN, in Spanish) mobile clinic.
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José Julio is a 24-year-old cheerful and talkative man who lives in a populous neighborhood of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. He recently enrolled at a university to study medicine.
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A former worker of the Ghana Railways Authority, Angelina Tormeti is now a HealthKeeper who supports her family by selling family planning and other health products.
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Mrs. Patience Gyasi is a licensed chemical seller at the LA Dadekotopon District, in the Greater Accra Region. For the past 25 years, she has devoted her life to providing health care, including family planning services to her community.
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Diana Bona, a public health nurse and the regional focal person for adolescent health in the Greater Accra region, is committed to increasing access to adolescent health education in schools within her region.
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Bernard Tetteh is a 45 year old station guard and transport service operator in Anloga, in the Volta Region. As a station guard, he takes the opportunity to educate people on reproductive health issues.
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Stella Nyarko became a HealthKeeper through a women’s association. She now provides communities with family planning information and health protection products.
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Madam Fanny Stafford is the patron of the Young Peer Educators Club established by the HealthKeepers Network (HKN), a non-governmental organization based in Accra.
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As a peer educator with the HealthKeepers Network (HKN), Beatrice Ghartey receives training in many areas including adolescent reproductive health, sexually transmitted infections, prevention of teenage pregnancy, sexual abstinence and youth friendly services.
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APC grantee the Dominican Family Planning Association, Inc. (ADOPLAFAM) provides training and high-quality services in maternal and child health, family planning, reproductive, and sexual health for lower income groups in the Dominican Republic.
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My name is Sybounheuang Sansathit, but everyone calls me Ki. I am a prosthetist and orthoptist (P&O) at the Center for Medical Rehabilitation in Vientiane, Laos. I see about 15 patients per week. I enjoy working with people with disabilities and seeing my clients smile after their new device is fitted.
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At 9 years old, Lulia was involved in a terrible accident that put her in a wheelchair. With the help of Motivation Romania Foundation (MRF) services and its Peer Group Training (PGT), Lulia was able to gain the confidence to get her life back on track.
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When five-year-old Shelby was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, World Vision's ACCESS (Accelerating Core Competencies for Effective Wheelchair Services and Support) program helped her find the perfect wheelchair, enabling Shelby and her mother to continue living their life in the community.
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Nine-year-old Vanessa was diagnosed with viral meningitis after suffering from a very high fever and convulsions. Her aunt heard about the TEAM project and immediately registered her. The TEAM project is implemented through a grant awarded under APC, by World Vision, who will enable more than 1,900 people with disabilities including victims of war, especially women and girls, to attain and maintain maximum independence.
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Tashana Legall was born to a low income family in Guyana and lost both her parents to HIV/AIDS. In 2007, Tashana enrolled in a program for children orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV (HKID) at Comforting Hearts. The organization was a source of psychological, nutritional, spiritual and academic support to Tashana for several years. The continued nurturance and support from the staff at CH enabled Tashana to progress at school.
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Gillian, a visually impaired 41-year-old, found out that she was HIV-positive when her family insisted that she go to the doctor because she was losing weight at a rapid rate. For 3 years she shut herself away from her family and friends, never disclosing her status to anyone. One day she decided to tell a classmate who happened to be a social worker at Lifeline Counselling Services (LCS) and enrolled Gillian in a People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and AIDS support group at LCS.
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Queenie, or Q as she sometimes goes by, is an HIV positive, transgender (trans) person living in Guyana. When Q fell ill after defaulting on anti-retroviral therapy (ART), she was hesitant to resume her treatment. Given the stigma and discrimination Q had experienced in the hospital as a trans person, she was not looking forward to going back alone. So she reached out to Guyana Trans United (GTU), an organization that supports the trans community, for assistance.
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In the Dominican Republic (DR), transgender (trans) persons experience stigma and discrimination in many different ways and are denied the same opportunities as other Dominicans. In recent years, more efforts have been directed at improving the quality of life for the trans community. However, these initiatives focus mainly on HIV prevention and treatment, ignoring the multiple socioeconomic and health needs of these marginalized individuals.
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Key populations in the Dominican Republic have HIV prevalence rates that are six to twelve times higher than the national average of 0.8 percent. Although there are multiple players committed to tackling the concentrated HIV epidemic, large gaps in coverage and access to HIV prevention, care and treatment services remain.
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To respond to the unmet need for family planning (FP) in Uganda, the Salvation Army Integrating Family Planning (SAIFaP) Project organized mobile outreach activities in hard to reach areas.
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Alemnesh Assefa is a 27-year-old Health Extension Worker (HEW). She is a government employee health worker who serves in a village, where the lowest health structure is called a health post where two HEWs serve a population of 5000.
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According to 40-year-old Mrs. Peace Amegadzie, her childhood aspiration was to become a fashion designer, but she has still not regretted switching. As a health worker, she is helping people to improve their health and it has also kept her employed and able to support her family.
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Mrs Gertrude Emelyne Kofie, a Health Keeper based in Ashiyie, a suburb of Adenta in the Greater Accra Region has said that, despite the several challenges confronting her profession as a health worker, she is still determined to continue impacting positively people’s lives.
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Nana Ohene Kwatia, a HealthKeeper who lives at Frafraha-Old Town, a Suburb of the Adentan Community in Accra is also the paramount chief of the Obom traditional area, a suburb of Adawso in the Eastern region. Kwatia said his passion to become a health champion compelled him to join HealthKeepers Network (HKN).
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Despite the largely invisible role played by men in terms of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Nana Kofi Akorlegah, a Health Keeper based in Ohiamadwen, a suburb of the Shama district in the Western Region, says he was determined to succeed and has no regrets joining the program.
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Edward Basalirwa is a 40-year-old Village Health Team (VHT) member and farmer from the Iganga District of Uganda. Edward was prompted to form a VHT Association in the Nsale Parish to improve the community’s well-being, and the VHT was elected in the community by the LC1 chairman, or village leader.
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Paul Mulawa is a 38-year-old Family Planning (FP) Champion and Village Health Team (VHT) member in the Iganga District, Ibalanku subcounty of Uganda. Elected by the community, Mulawa l’s VHT works within their community to promote FP, encourage individuals to immunize their children, and discuss hygiene in their homes.
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The HKN program trains distributors, known as “HealthKeepers,” who directly sell health-promoting products and counsel customers. HKN initiated outreach to work with commercial drivers—known as StationGuards—to promote a healthy lifestyle and provide their peers with reliable access to health protection products and services
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The HKN program is modeled after a door-to-door sales approach for a line of health products including condoms and oral contraceptives pills. The HealthKeepers go the last mile—right to the doorstep—to sell the basic health-promoting products, especially for women and children.
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Aashish is a 43 year old men who have sex with men (MSM), an alcoholic, and a chain smoker. On his initial visit to FACT, Aashish was enrolled in a support group for MSM. In group discussion, he was educated on the benefits of consistent condom use as well as the importance of good nutrition and healthy food choices.
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Nam Ne is a 38 year old male living in Beung Run Village, Sombok Commune, Chet Borey District, Kratie Province, Cambodia. In October 2010, Ne had severe low back pain for unknown reasons.
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Sum Srey Norng is a 15 year old female who lives with her parents and 4 siblings in Bor Em Village, Rominh Commune, Koh Andeth District, Ta Keo Province, Cambodia. In April 2014, she was in a traffic accident when she crossed a road to collect lotus roots and fruit to sell.
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WellShare International conducted a district assessment on readiness for community-based access to injectables and results showed that only 3 out of the 55 Health Centers in Iganga offer youth-friendly services and that less than 10 percent of Health Center staff are trained in YFS.
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Through partnership with local government and lower health centers, WellShare International is offering community-based HIV counseling and testing services through outreaches and is integrating family planning alongside other services.
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With the support of USAID’s Childhood Blindness Grant, Seva Foundation contributed to building the Angkor Hospital for Children’s (AHC) capacity to provide pediatric eye care, improved the clinical diagnosis of eye disease and expanded community outreach programs in Cambodia.
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APC awarded Physicians for Peace one of the Child Blindness grants to expand the reach of their existing vision care program to elementary school children and indigenous Filipinos in underserved areas throughout the Philippines.
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Hout Thoeung, a 22 year old girl, was affected with polio when she was six months old causing both her legs to become paralyzed. She faced limitations in moving around, performing normal daily living activities, and she also faced discrimination from other children in the village.
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Hoeun Chan, 27 years old, was a fourth year student of a university in Phnom Penh before he was accidently hit by a bullet in his back bone during a garment factory worker protest which turned violent on November 12, 2013.
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Ros Sokhom is a 34 year old female who lives with her husband and a son in Prek Pra commune, MeanChey district, Phnom Penh city. One day in June 2011, Sokhom fell down from the top stair of her house from a height of about 4 meters, which caused her a spinal cord injury.
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Although modern contraceptive methods are widely available in family planning facilities across all ten regions of Ghana, convincing women to adopt a method continues to be a challenge.
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Macarena Perez, a trans woman and patient at the CEPROSH health clinic in Puerto Plata, 300 kilometers north of Santo Domingo, shares her grief after her best friend died of AIDS three years ago.
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Clínica de Familia is helping to ensure that the men who are highest risk for acquiring HIV and other STIs have access to unique, high quality, male-friendly health services in the eastern Dominican Republic.
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