I-TECH works to strengthen the quality of pediatric HIV care and treatment in Namibia through the development of a “model” pediatric HIV clinic and supporting decentralization of quality pediatric care to other facilities. In collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Services, I-TECH developed an innovative, structured, culturally-relevant intervention to help guide health care workers and caregivers of HIV-positive children through the process of disclosing a child’s HIV-positive status to the child.
An evaluation of the disclosure program showed that it increased health care worker and caregiver confidence and communication in pediatric disclosure, as well as demonstrating improved viral suppression, adherence, and HIV knowledge among pediatric patients. I-TECH clinicians have also worked at the site level to support the development, implementation, and monitoring of strategies to improve adolescent HIV services and transition of adolescents from pediatric to adult care.
In accordance with the HIV Care Continuum, I-TECH supports direct HIV care and treatment service delivery as well as on-site clinical mentoring and technical assistance in 81 facilities in five regions of Namibia. I-TECH supports key evidence-based strategies such as provider-initiated HIV counseling and testing, eMTCT, and decentralization of ART services to the clinic.
In collaboration with the MoHSS, I-TECH is implementing “Treatment for All” guidelines (December 2016), an HIV care and treatment approach that initiates patients on lifelong antiretroviral therapy as soon as they test HIV-positive. I-TECH has developed an interactive education and counseling intervention, ARVs and Healthy Me, for health care workers to support HIV-positive patients in attaining good adherence and engagement in care.
To improve the quality of data for use in clinical decision-making, I-TECH actively participates in national technical working groups and advisory committees, and conducts rigorous monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to build awareness and buy-in for data quality and date use among site-level managers and health care workers.
I-TECH has a wealth of experience and expertise in planning, developing, and implementing projects focused on prevention, care, and treatment of infectious diseases, particularly HIV and opportunistic co-infections such as tuberculosis (TB) and sexually transmitted infections.
(more…)
I-TECH began its work in Tanzania in 2006 at the request of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For over a decade, I-TECH has been providing national-level technical assistance to the National AIDS Control Program (NACP); National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Program (NTLP); Prevention and Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT); Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Program (FELTP); Directorate of Human Resources for Development; Directorate for Nursing and Midwifery; and other departments in the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, so as to strengthen health systems in Tanzania and improve the quality of care provided to patients with HIV/AIDS.
I-TECH Tanzania is directly contributing to the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets through support for implementation of “Treat All” through differentiated HIV service delivery models (SDMs); strengthening of human resources for health and workforce capacity aligned to PEPFAR’s Human Resource for Health Strategy; policy development support; and public health surveillance through strengthening data collection, quality and interpretation at every level of the health system.
Program Highlights
I-TECH has worked for almost twenty years to support health systems strengthening and the national response to the HIV epidemic in Malawi through significant contributions to the development of a robust health care workforce that provides high-quality HIV prevention, care, and treatment services.
In Malawi, I-TECH works through the secondment of well-qualified, experienced technical advisors (TAs) in the Ministry of Health (MOH) and other institutions to provide technical assistance for development and implementation of the national strategic plan led by the Government of Malawi (GOM). I-TECH TAs play an important role in ensuring timely national HIV/TB response by supporting prevention and control across the HIV care continuum. Additionally, I-TECH TAs support and facilitate surveillance and M&E for HIV/TB programs. This assistance enables the MOH to collect and manage up-to-date data to inform evidence-based decision-making by GOM and partners.
I-TECH technical assistance to Malawi MOH also covers the implementation of national surveillance systems to improve the generation of high-quality epidemiological data. Surveillance TAs work together with their GOM counterparts to improve storage and transportation conditions for lab samples, train staff in analysis of surveillance samples, and increase the functionality of surveillance systems to generate reliable and accurate data. The principal surveillance projects I-TECH TAs support in Malawi are Birth Defects Surveillance and HIV Recent Infection Surveillance. Most recently, I-TECH TAs have been placed at Public Health Institute of Malawi (PHIM) to support GOM with its emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Departments and units supported by I-TECH TAs include the National Tuberculosis Control Programme, Department of HIV and AIDS, Supply Chain of HIV Commodities, Monitoring and Evaluation of HIV Program Diagnostics, Reproductive Health Department, PHIM, National HIV Reference Laboratory, and the National Registration Bureau. I-TECH TAs also support clinical mentoring and M&E at Lighthouse Trust, a Center of Excellence for HIV care that was established in 2001.
Program Highlights
Since 2005, I-TECH has drawn on expertise from the University of Washington and the University of California, San Francisco, to support the Ministry of Health (MOH) in advancing priorities in the areas of health information systems (HIS), HIS leadership and governance, Global Health Security (GHSA), and evidence-based Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practices.
I-TECH Kenya’s programs aim to improve the quality of patient care and enable health care facilities to meet their health information, data collection, and reporting needs. I-TECH Kenya’s GHSA funded programs aim to advance the Global Health Security Agenda through strengthening information systems and reporting, and improving IPC in health care facilities.
In all efforts, I-TECH Kenya works closely with the MOH and local partners to develop and implement programs that can be successfully transitioned to local ownership, ensuring sustainable progress toward Kenya’s long-term health goals.
Program Highlights
Since 2003, I-TECH has been providing technical support and capacity building with health ministries and local organizations in the Caribbean Region to respond to the local HIV epidemic. Technical assistance has focused on continuous quality improvement, clinical mentoring of physicians and nurses, health systems strengthening, e-learning, and instructional design. Currently, the team is doing pioneering work to improve provider-patient communication with key populations affected by HIV in the region—gay and bisexual men, other men who have sex with men, transgender people, and sex workers.
In 2020, I-TECH launched the Caribbean Training and Education Center for Health (C-TECH), an independent, locally registered organization. C-TECH and I-TECH work in close partnership to support activities to improve retention in care, interruption in treatment, and viral suppression and to reduce loss to follow-up in HIV care and treatment programs. Together, the partners implement programs to strengthen access and quality of care for all people living with HIV, with an emphasis on key population groups that bear a disproportionate burden of HIV infection.
I-TECH currently works in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname and has worked in many other Caribbean countries in the past including Barbados, the Bahamas, Belize, Guyana, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada and Dominica.
Program Highlights
The Government of Botswana has made a strong national commitment to fighting HIV, and was one of the first countries in Africa to launch a nationwide response to the HIV epidemic and to offer free antiretroviral treatment to its citizens living with HIV. The estimated HIV prevalence in Botswana is 21.9% among population aged 18 months and older, which is down from over 25% a decade ago. There are currently about 360,000 people living with HIV, and of those, more than 300,000 are on treatment. [UNAIDS 2017].
In 2003, I-TECH began to partner with the Government of Botswana to combat HIV and has continued to work closely with the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Global AIDS Program, and local and international partners to respond to the health needs of the people of Botswana.
With I-TECH support, the MOHW has made great strides in HIV Testing Services; laboratory systems continuous quality improvement; monitoring and evaluation of HIV and tuberculosis; health informatics; and operations research. I-TECH Botswana has been providing direct service delivery and technical assistance in support of the Government of Botswana’s health priorities, specifically targeting the first 90 of the UNAIDS 90-90-90 goals—that 90% of the population knows their status. Sustainable transition to local ownership is a key component of all work conducted by I-TECH Botswana.
In 2020, I-TECH launched the Botswana Training and Education Center for Health (B-TECH), an independent, locally registered organization. Through funding from HRSA, CDC, and the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), I-TECH and B-TECH work in close partnership to implement programs such as improving direct service delivery and continuous quality improvement approaches; providing cervical cancer screening, treatment, and care; and developing and maintaining a national COVID-19 vaccine registry.
Current Program Highlights
Past Programs
Mozambique has one of the fastest growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa. Since the end of a 17-year civil war in 1992, leaders have worked to leverage country resources to build infrastructure and improve the quality of life for Mozambican citizens. Despite this promising growth, many public-sector programs are under-resourced, and much of the population still has limited access to quality health care.
With a population of 24 million, Mozambique has fewer than four physicians for every 100,000 inhabitants. More than 1.4 million people are estimated to be infected with HIV. The population also has high rates of tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases, malaria, and diarrheal diseases such as endemic cholera, all of which worsen the impact of HIV and AIDS when there is co-infection.
Drawing on expertise from its global network, including the University of Washington and the University of California, San Francisco, I-TECH began working in Mozambique in 2005. Since then, its technical support to the Ministry of Health (MISAU) has been focused on addressing the shortage of health care providers in the country through clinical training and curriculum revision and development. I-TECH also works to improve the quality of HIV prevention, care and treatment services, including antiretroviral treatment (ART) and voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC). Ongoing monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities, including technical assistance to MISAU, measure the effectiveness of health care programs and provide quality data for decision-making and program improvement.
Program Highlights
