Region: Africa

The Alliance and GNP+ held a workshop from 6–9 December 2010 in Dakar, Senegal, to discuss how people living with HIV are involved in delivering HIV programmes in Africa. The workshop was based on the recently developed GIPA good practice guide. Although the principle of the greater involvement of people living with HIV (GIPA) is not new, it is important to revisit regularly how it is being applied in HIV programmes so that people living with HIV can play an effective role in how HIV work is shaped and run in their countries.

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The Network for the Empowerment of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya (NEPHAK) would like to thank the respondents for enriching this report with their thoughts and experiences. In spite of the many demands on their time, they made themselves available to participate in this study.

The Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV and AIDS (GIPA) Report Card is an advocacy tool that measure the application of the GIPA principle in the national response to HIV. In this study a total of 27 organisations from different sectors were purposively sampled and individuals in these organisations interviewed on the application of GIPA principles in Kenya. The sectors represented  were the public sector including the National AIDS Control Council, the private sector, civil society, networks of people living with HIV and AIDS (PLHIV), the UNAIDS Secretariat and the country coordinating mechanism (CCM).

This report was produced as part of  HIV Leadership through Accountability programme, which ran for five years, from 2009 to 2013

It was spearheaded Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) and the World AIDS Campaign (WAC), and funded by the Department for International Development (DfID), to create evidence-based campaigning, advocacy and lobbying for and by people living with HIV. Research was carried out to inform and strengthen national, regional and international advocacy, and was implemented with a bottom-up approach, informed by community responses, and strengthened by South-South collaboration.

 The countries where the programme was implemented were: Cameroon, Ethiopia,  Kenya, Malawi, Moldova, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.

 More information and background materials can be found  at http://www.hivleadership.org/ which is the archive site for the programme

With improved access to treatment for people living with HIV, many are now able to live longer. As a result, there is growing interest in overall quality of life issues, including the sexual and reproductive health of people living with HIV. During the Leadership Through Accountability programme, GNP+ and it’s national partner networks have conducted in-country research using the Guidance Package: Advancing the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of People Living with HIV.

The studies conducted each focus on specific populations within the different countries. In Nigeria the study provided an overview of access to sexual and reproductive health information and services by sero-discordant couples. Their access to SRH counseling and support services were examined, as was the capacity and preparedness of the Nigerian health facilities and service providers to manage the SRH issues and needs of sero-discordant couples.

The Global Criminalisation Scan is an international tool used in documenting laws, judicial practices and case studies around the criminalisation of HIV transmission. The Criminalisation Scan was undertaken in Nigeria by the Network of People Living with HIV in Nigeria.

The study found laws criminalising HIV transmission exist in Nigeria, but that knowledge around this is very limited.

The Global Criminalisation Scan is an international tool used in documenting laws, judicial practices and case studies around the criminalisation of HIV transmission.

The Criminalisation Scan was undertaken in Kenya by the National Empowerment Network of People living with HIV in Kenya (NEPHAK).

The study found that Kenya has two legal instruments that relate to HIV transmission.

The Global Criminalization Scan is an international tool used in documenting laws, judicial practices and case studies around the criminalisation of HIV transmission. The Network of Zambian People living with HIV, (NZP+) through the Leadership through Accountability programme adapted and implemented the Criminalisation Scan in Zambia in 2009. Although there are no known prosecutions specific to HIV transmission to date the government may be considering developing criminalisation legislation.

For more information on criminalisation in Africa and its countries, visit the the GNP+ criminalisation scan website

With improved access to treatment for people living with HIV, many are now able to live longer. As a result, there is growing interest in overall quality of life issues, including the sexual and reproductive health of people living with HIV. During the Leadership Through Accountability programme, GNP+ and it’s national partner networks have conducted in-country research using the Guidance Package: Advancing the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of People Living with HIV.

The studies conducted each focus on specific populations within the different countries. In Zambia the exploratory qualitative study sought to examine the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs, concerns and barriers to accessing related services for adolescents aged 10-19 years living with HIV in Zambia.

With improved access to treatment for people living with HIV, many are now able to live longer. As a result, there is growing interest in overall quality of life issues, including the sexual and reproductive health of people living with HIV. During the Leadership Through Accountability programme, GNP+ and it’s national partner networks have conducted in-country research using the Guidance Package: Advancing the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of People Living with HIV.

The studies conducted each focus on specific populations within the different countries. In Kenya the study focussed on the high drop-out and failure rates of prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services.