Implementing Multiple Gender Strategies to Improve HIV and ... - ICRW

The government has agreed to provide supervision and resources for HIV
testing and STI management. At site level, COH II works in close
collaboration with the District Health Management Teams, who supply HIV
testing kits and drugs to treat STIs and provide monthly external quality
control on HIV testing. In turn, COH II reports to the Ministry of Health the
number of people diagnosed and treated.
COH II works with the National AIDS Council through District AIDS Task
Forces, who coordinate the HIV awareness and prevention activities of all
the organizations involved in the district. COH II staff, mainly site managers,
chair some District AIDS Task Force subcommittees and are directly
involved in planning, coordinating, and organizing district events.
COH II has established Behavior Change Steering Committees, made up of
individuals from various organizations and groups in the district including
political, religious, and traditional leadership, at each site. These
committees are a think tank and guide COH II in selecting activities and
locations.
Traditional village leaders help choose dates for COH II events and
mobilize villagers to attend. COH II also works with religious leaders, school
authorities, and other community leaders to identify appropriate activities,
plan events, and review the outcomes of the events. Local officials and
community members value the program highly, though it requires external
funding for implementation.
Evaluation
Methodology
• Qualitative assessment: A team of program staff and external
consultants conducted an assessment at the end of COH I in 2006.
Methods included observations, focus groups (140 participants total),
in-depth interviews, and discussions with COH beneficiaries and
partners to assess the overall impact that COH has had in the
communities visited (75 total).
• Behavior surveillance surveys: To monitor and measure relative
outcomes of interventions, a team of program staff and external
consultants conducted three rounds (2000, 2003, 2006) of behavioral
surveillance surveys among long-distance truck drivers and female sex
workers. The 2000 and 2003 surveys among sex workers included
biologic tests for syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia and trichomoniasis
infection. In 2003, the project also conducted a survey among
uniformed personnel (police, revenue authority, and immigration
officers), and bus/minibus and light truck drivers. In 2005, surveys were
conducted in Ndola among sex workers (including a biologic
component screening for STIs, including HIV), long-distance truck
drivers, uniformed personnel, and bus/minibus drivers. Survey
questions focused mainly on knowledge of HIV prevention, incorrect
beliefs about HIV transmission, type of sex partners, condom use at
last sex with different sex partners, voluntary HIV counseling and
testing, and exposure to interventions.
• Monitoring data collection: Program staff regularly collect basic data on
COH II participants and activities.
Evaluation Results • Qualitative assessment: Select findings include:
- Trained peer educators and queen mothers effectively reached sex
workers with behavior change messages centering on the benefits
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