AID cooperative agreement no. AFR-0474-G-SS-9063-00 to the People - to People Health Foundation, Inc. for HIV/AIDS Prevention in Africa (HAPA) program activities in Malawi and Swaziland

In Malawi, HOPE will strengthen the capacity of the Private Hospital Association of Malawi (PHAM), a local NGO which serves as the coordinating and advisory body to 145 church-related health units (which together provide 40% of all health services in Malawi) to develop AIDS education programs. HOPE will help PHAM conduct a baseline KAP survey, develop HIV educational programs, and train its health workers, clergy, school workers, and community leaders to provide HIV/AIDS education to the general public and to HIV patients and their families. Efforts will be focused on rural areas, especially in the southern regions, and will be conducted in cooperation with the national primary health care system. In Swaziland, HOPE will utilize traditional community channels to provide HIV/AIDS education in Lubombo and Shiselweni Districts, located in the eastern and southern regions of the country. HOPE, working in conjunction with the Family Life Association of Swaziland, will (1) conduct as KAP survey of a sample of 2,000 persons; (2) use survey results and other data to develop educational programs; (3) establish HIV/AIDS information and counseling centers at key institutions to provide counseling before and after HIV testing, help infected persons and their families, and advise clients with other sexually transmitted diseases; and (4) improve outreach by making HIV information dissemination a responsibility of rural health motivators and traditional healers and village chiefs.