Following the launch of the Yaba Guy Che Study in May, Zambart Director of Research Prof. Helen Ayles, accompanied by study implementation team, officially introduced the study to management and key stakeholders at Kanyama Level 1 General Hospital.
The meeting served as a key stakeholder engagement platform to introduce the study and initiate discussions on the co-design of referral system aligned with Kanyama Level 1 hospital systems to support men’s access to healthcare services.
Yaba Guy Che is a five-year research initiative aimed at improving access to integrated health services for men in Zambia and will be conducted in Kanyama community. The study is supported through international partnerships funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), UK International Development and implemented with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine University of Sussex and Brighton Medical School, University of Brighton, EmERGE, and the Zambia Ministry of Health.
This health systems strengthening study seeks to demonstrate the delivery of an integrated and co-designed system that provides equitable HIV, sexually transmitted infection (STI), tuberculosis (TB), and non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention and care services for men through strengthened community and primary healthcare systems in high HIV-burden urban communities.
The first 18 months of the study will focus on formative research with the following objectives:
- Establish men’s peer monitoring groups to strengthen health system accountability during the implementation of the Yaba Guy Che study.
- Co-develop, with potential users and stakeholders, both digital and non-digital pathways to HIV, STI, TB and NCD screening, prevention, treatment and care services.
- Conduct a “universe of places” mapping exercise to identify locations and times where men commonly gather, helping to inform service delivery strategies and future evaluation of the intervention.
After this formative phase of co-development of the intervention, the study will implement the intervention for 24months and then evaluate the impact.
The engagement at Kanyama Level 1 General Hospital marks an important step towards building a partnership that will ensure the study is responsive to the needs of men, the community it aims to serve and the health system it operates in.