HIV and AIDS Comprehensive Care Initiative (HACCI)

URC is supporting the Government of Nigeria to expand access to and improve the quality of HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment services and to build sustainable capacity in those areas at primary and secondary facilities in Enugu and Ebonyi States. By supporting mobilization of the communities served by these facilities, HACCI is fostering local ownership of the delivery of comprehensive HIV/AIDS services.

• Provide technical assistance to improve clinical training, strengthen staff competency, upgrade infrastructure, provide supplies and pharmaceuticals, and train health care workers and community volunteers.
• Help establish and integrate testing and counseling for HIV, the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, antiretroviral therapy, TB/HIV integrated care, and care and support services.
• Implement and expand pediatric HIV care, support, and treatment and improve services for orphans and vulnerable children and families affected by HIV/AIDS.
• Develop facility- and home-based services to optimize the quality of life for HIV clients and their families.
• Support community outreach to reduce stigma, disseminate prevention messages, and increase awareness of HIV/AIDS services among remote and vulnerable populations.

• Renovated five secondary health facilities and fully equipped their laboratories to provide HIV diagnosis and monitoring, greatly improving 1) access to and the quality of care for people with HIV and AIDS and 2) patient monitoring.
• Expanded community outreach by training and supporting about 200 community volunteers to disseminate prevention messages, work with communities to reduce stigma, and increase access to HIV services. As a result, over 2000 people have been referred for counseling and testing.
• Expanded services to six private for-profit health facilities, thereby extending access to quality HIV services to the middle class, who prefer to use private for-profit services.
• Fifty-three HACCI-supported health facilities have provided counseling and testing to over 27,000 pregnant women since the project launched.