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HIV / AIDS Directory
of Zambia

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Programmes, Activities
& Services

We help workplaces draft an HIV policy tailored to suit their individual needs. The policy is developed using participatory approaches involving both management and staff. This helps to strengthen the company's commitment to it's workforce in terms of HIV/AIDS. The policy usually addresses inter-alia issues such as:
• The employee's rights in the workplace.
• Level of medical support given to HIV positive staff
• Sick leave and access to benefits.
Afya Mzuri also provides technical assistance to workplaces seeking to:
• Carry out an HIV/AIDS risk/impact assessment for the specific industry type;
• Conduct behavioural surveillance survey and other related research projects;
• Conduct sensitisation seminars for workplace management, employees and communities;
• Design and implement an HIV/AIDS prevention programme for the workplace;
• Facilitate access to clinical care and other support services for employees;
• Train company clinicians in syndromic management of sexually transmitted infections;
• Implement ad-hoc workshops and seminars to address developing information and training needs, such as psychosocial counselling, first aid training, positive living workshops, etc.
• Identify and recommend VCT services for companies, as well as assist to establish VCT centres where possible/necessary;
• Design a monitoring and evaluation system for workplace interventions;
• Develop an outreach HIV/AIDS community programme for families of employees;
• Develop and implement HIV sensitisation programmes for rural communities; and
• Provide access to and produce up-to-date HIV/AIDS information and workplace materials.
Afya Mzuri negotiates with workplace clients on a cost sharing mechanism to ensure ownership of the programme and to sustain activities

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Peer Educator Training

Afya Mzuri offers comprehensive peer educator training for staff in workplaces. Peer educators are trained to disseminate relevant and factual HIV-information to their colleagues as a way of enhancing positive behavioural change.
The training lasts for 5 days and includes the following topic areas:
• Role of peer educators
• Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)
• Voluntary counseling and Testing (VCT)
• Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ARV)
• Monitoring and reporting on peer educator activities. Afya Mzuri offers a programme of regular monitoring visits. The visits provide support to peer educators and help to sustain the momentum of the programme and staff interest.
• We also offer intensive anti-stigma training lasting between 3-5days, as well as training courses for Palliative Care and Psychosocial Training in conjunction with our partners.

Workplace Seminar Programmes

Afya Mzuri runs seminar programmes on a range of different topics specifically to meet the needs of senior management of each organization. In small office environments we recommend seminars as an alternative to the peer education programme. Some examples include:

• Counseling and testing services for staff
• HIV treatment and support available through the workplace policy.

Topics for presentations are selected and agreed with the organisation.

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Community Outreach Programmes

For companies with host communities, Afya Mzuri recommends extending the HIV programme into the host community. Afya Mzuri’s experience has shown that information disseminated at workplaces whose workforce is predominantly male, is not passed on to, or discussed with, employees’ spouses and children. Therefore in order to ensure the whole family benefits from the programme, it is extended into the host community reaching primarily women and youth.

A mapping exercise is undertaken, which involves visiting every house to establish the number of people available to participate in activities. In addition, existing facilities and resources are identified. Host community programmes are coordinated on a daily basis by a resident community coordinator, who has a similar role to the workplace FPP. Community peer education training lasts for ten days. Refresher and additional training is undertaken as necessary, along with complementary workshops, lay counselling training, and provision of condoms. The peer educators are encouraged to undertake outreach visits to surrounding communities including churches and schools to raise awareness about HIV.

Where a company does not have a host community, spouses and employees’ families are invited to attend onsite activities, including healthy living, positive living, STI and communication skills workshops. This includes the provision of VCT services.

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Care and Support Services

Afya Mzuri has established a Care and Support Unit to expand activities beyond HIV prevention. This includes increasing awareness in treatment literacy and advocating for accessibility to ART for employees and their families. The Unit creates links with key institutions providing HIV-related care and support in the locality of each workplace, and also works with health service providers to ensure an effective referral network is in place. This includes public sector facilities (e.g. DHMT outreach services), community-based services (e.g. home-based care providers, positive living support groups), as well as private sector facilities. Afya Mzuri is also embarking on a programme of training for private sector clinics to build the capacity of health workers in providing ART. These approaches ensure cost effective ART, VCT, palliative care, and STI treatment.

Afya Mzuri has qualified psychosocial counsellors, as well as personnel in various health fields. In addition, Afya Mzuri works with national experts to partner in the provision of services onsite e.g. New Start Centre & Kara Counselling. This ensures capacity to meet the demand for services such as Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT), psychosocial counselling training, ART and STI treatment. Afya Mzuri has organised successful onsite VCT services for several clients, including Chilanga Cement PLC in Lusaka and Ndola, Zambezi Resources in Chongwe, and Ecoveg in Chisamba.

Provision of condoms
Through seminars, workshops and related awareness programmes, Afya Mzuri provides information on abstinence, mutual faithfulness, as well as both male and female condoms as different means of encouraging safer sexual practices. Afya Mzuri provides male condoms free of charge to its clients upon request. Female condoms are provided at a fee.
Activities being undertaken under our new unit, Care and Support, include ART training workshops for the surrounding communities of Chilanga Cement, Eureka Chickens and Mpongwe Development Company on the Copperbelt. This is part of our Egmont Trust funded project whose overall aim is to increase awareness of and access to care, support and treatment opportunities/options available to employees, spouses and children affected by HIV. The Afya Mzuri Care and Support team has been able to develop the Referral Service Guide (link) and ART Training Curriculum (link) aimed at increasing knowledge on HIV/AIDS and awareness of services available in Chilanga, Eureka and Mpongwe communities. The unit is has also been able to provide support to some companies for the development of care and support services including the establishment of Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) services. The Care and Support unit with support from the Global Fund through the Zambia National AIDS Network (ZNAN) is later this year expected to embark on a capacity building training programme for clinicians working at clinics in the private sector.

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Resource Centre Services

The Afya Mzuri HIV Resource Centre is the largest in the country. The headquarters have recently moved to a dedicated building in Lusaka, and services are also available from the Kitwe and Choma satellite offices. The centre has been developed over a number of years and with support from a range of donors, including the Development Cooperation of Ireland (DCI), Health Communication Partnership (HCP) / USAID and the Zambia National HIV/AIDS Network (ZNAN). Afya Mzuri has now secured funding from Care International for two years to continue to expand the services in partnership with SAfAIDS and the Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign (TALC).

The following services are currently available:
• A lending library of videos, slide shows, seminar materials, peer education training materials, and male and female condom models;
• A comprehensive reference collection of books, reports and other documents on HIV-related issues pertaining to Zambia and Sub-Saharan Africa;
• An advisory service on the availability of information to support HIV initiatives, particularly on the availability and reproduction of information, education and communication (IEC) materials;
• Access to the Internet and other electronic sources of information, with support for finding up-to-date and relevant materials, as well as for using the computers for proposal writing;
• A meeting place for PLHAs and other groups;
• A dedicated video-viewing room;
• A business centre onsite for printing, binding, photocopying and laminating; and
• Access to wide range of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials, including production and reproduction of new and existing IEC materials etc.

Afya Mzuri also coordinates the national electronic forum for HIV issues in Zambia, the PartnesZambia eForum, as well as compiles and distributes the global daily eBulletin for the latest HIV information. Services are available to all clients supported by Afya Mzuri including Focal Point Persons, Community Coordinators and all peer educators.

Samples of a variety of IEC materials are available through the centre, as well as high quality materials produced in-house. If companies would like to purchase IEC materials such as posters and leaflets for their programmes, Afya Mzuri can provide these at the cost of reproduction. IEC materials are extremely valuable in supporting a programme, and companies are encouraged to purchase such materials.
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