Zambart recently hosted a three-day annual meeting, bringing together collaborators and stakeholders involved in the Expanded Total Facility Approach (e-TFA) project in Livingstone, Zambia.
HIV stigma and discrimination in health facilities continue to challenge access to quality HIV prevention and treatment services across the world. The Expanded Total Facility Approach (TFA) is an evidence-based HIV stigma and discrimination intervention that is currently being implemented in six hospitals across Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia to reduce HIV -related stigma towards clients and among staff and increase access to HIV services. This three-year project 2023-26 also provided the first opportunity to expand the approach by integrating HIV stigma and discrimination into some key health worker curricula in the same three African countries, providing a more sustainable approach.
Representatives from partners institutions in Ghana, namely Educational Assessment and Research Center (EARC), National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) and the Ghanaian Nursing and Midwifery Council, and in Tanzania: Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) attended the meeting. Other international partners that attended include: the Research Triangle Institute (RTI International), US and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.
In Zambia, the eTFA is being implemented at Choma General Hospital and Macha Mission Hospitals.
The purpose of the meeting was to review past and remaining project activities, baseline and midline findings, pre-service integration progress, health economics, eTFA intervention and evaluation outcomes, and achievements recorded so far, as well as discuss country-scale up plans and upcoming eTFA activities.
The meeting also included a presentation by Dr. Bruce Agins who sharedinsights into lessons learnt from scaling-up stigma interventions in Asia.
The eTFA project continues to strengthen regional collaboration and build safer, more inclusive healthcare environments for both clients and healthcare workers, contributing to the global fight against HIV-related stigma and discrimination.
#EndStigma #FightingStigmaTogether #Teamwork