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Everybody Matters: Good practices for inclusion of people with disabilities in sexual and reproductive health and rights programmes

Van SLOBBE, Caroline
November 2017

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This publication provides introductory chapters from two activists who work to create better opportunities for people with disabilities in Nigeria and India. Subsequently, the challenges that organisations worldwide have encountered whilst improving the access to and knowledge of sexual and reproductive health and rights for people with disabilities are presented. Ways in which they managed to find solutions and the results achieved are reviewed. Some cases show the importance of a more personal approach whilst others emphasise the advantage of changing systems and policies. Different regions, types of disabilities and various SRHR-topics are reflected in these stories. All cases provide lessons learnt that contribute to a set of recommendations for improved responses. The closing chapter highlights the challenges, solutions, and ambitions that are presented and lead up to a concise overview of recommendations.  

Good practice examples include:

A shift in SRH programming (Nepal)

Breaking Barriers with performance art (Kenya)

Her Body, Her Rights (Ethiopia)

People with disabilities leading the way (Israel Family Planning Association)

Best Wishes for safe motherhood (Nepal)

It’s my body! (Bangladesh)

Calling a spade a spade (Netherlands)

Four joining forces (Colombia)

Change agents with a disability (Zimbabwe)

Tito’s privacy and rights (Argentina)

Sign language for service providers (Kenya)

How rehabilitation can help people living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa : an evidence-informed tool for rehab providers

Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation
University of Toronto
University of Zambia
March 2015

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The aim of this e-module (or pdf) is to enhance knowledge about HIV care among rehabilitation providers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to help address the needs of people living with HIV. The resource is divided into 5 sections: the role of rehabilitation in the context of HIV in SSA; what rehabilitation providers need to know about HIV in SSA; rehabilitation interventions that can help people living with HIV in SSA; what rehabilitation providers need to know about caring for children and youth living with HIV in SSA; concepts and tools for measuring rehabilitation outcomes in HIV in SSA. This current resource is a comprehensive adaptation of the 2014 Canadian e-Module for rehabilitation providers in Sub-Saharan Africa which was developed from "A Comprehensive Guide for the Care of Persons with HIV Disease (Module 7)", published by Health Canada and the Wellesley Central Hospital, Toronto, Canada, published in 1998.

Human Rights

www.macao-tz.org
December 2014

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Malezi AIDS Care Awareness Organization (MACAO) is a non-profit organization reaching out to neglected Indigenous people in Ngorongoro District, Arusha Region of Northern Tanzania.  Macao founded in 2003, Macao is a humanitarian organization that provides assistance to approximately 200,000 Indigenous Maasai community in Ngorongoro district for addressing needs of water and sanitation, food security, health Care Research, Education, Research environment, Maasai Traditional Research, Human Rights and sustainable economic development by strengthening their livelihoods.  In addition to responding to major relief situations, MACAO focuses on long-term community development through over 4 Area Development Project. We welcome the donors and volunteers to join us in this programs, we are wolking in ruro villages.

Predictors of voluntary HIV counselling and testing services utilization among people with disabilities in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

ADEREMI, Toyin Janet
et al
June 2014

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“The study investigated HIV testing prevalence and factors associated with the utilization of voluntary HIV counselling and testing (VCT) services among individuals with disabilities in Addis Ababa. The analysis was based on a survey of 209 men and 203 women with disabilities, aged 15–49, who had ever heard about HIV and AIDS in four sub-cities in Addis Ababa. HIV testing prevalence was 53.2%, with no significant difference between males and females. Comprehensive HIV knowledge, living with spouse, and religious affiliations positively predicted utilization of VCT services among participants. Living with both parents and having physical or mental/intellectual disabilities were negative predictors of VCT services utilization. More research on the predictors of utilization of VCT services by gender and urban/rural divides are needed among people with disabilities”

AIDS Care: Psychological and Socio-medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV, Vol 26, Issue 10

Inclusive and integrated HIV and AIDS programming

MAC-SEING, Muriel
March 2012

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"This policy brief is an introduction to Handicap International’s 2012 Policy Paper "Inclusive and integrated HIV and AIDS programming". Handicap International promotes an inclusive approach to improving quality of life and access to services for persons with disabilities. This means that basic health care and socioeconomic services are developed according to the principle of Universal Access, where all people with impairments (whether physical, sensory, intellectual or mental), have equal access and opportunities for participation. This inclusive approach also ensures that gender considerations and disparities are acknowledged as a cross-cutting issue"
Policy brief No 7

The balanced counseling strategy plus : a toolkit for family planning service providers working in high HIV/STI prevalence settings

POPULATION COUNCIL
2011

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"This "is an interactive, client-friendly approach for improving counseling on family planning and prevention, detection, and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV. The BCS+ was adapted from the Balanced Counseling Strategy, an evidence-based and well-researched tool for improving counseling on contraceptive methods. The BCS+ toolkit, developed and tested in Kenya and South Africa, provides the information and materials needed for health care facility providers to provide complete and high-quality family planning counseling to clients who live in areas with high rates of HIV and STIs.The BCS+ tools are generic and can be revised according to national and/or regional guidelines and different contexts
This second edition toolkit includes the following: * BCS+ Trainer’s Guide: Supervisors and others can use this to train health care facility directors and service providers on how to use the BCS+ for counseling family planning clients. * BCS+ User’s Guide: This guide focuses on how to implement the Balanced Counseling Strategy Plus. It can be distributed during training or used on its own with the BCS+ job aids. * BCS+ job aids comprising: - BCS+ algorithm that summarizes the 19 steps needed to implement the BCS+ during a family planning counseling session. These steps are organized into four stages: pre-choice, method choice, post-choice, and STI/HIV counseling. - BCS+ counseling cards that the provider uses during a counseling session. There are 26 counseling cards, the first of which contains six questions that the service provider asks to rule out the possibility a client is pregnant. Each of the next 16 cards contains information about a different family planning method. The next 3 cards provide advice on pregnancy and the postpartum period. The last 6 cards provide essential information for counseling on preventing, detecting, and treating STIs and HIV. - BCS+ method brochures on each of the 16 methods represented by the counseling cards. The brochures provide counseling to clients on the method they have chosen and then are given to clients for later reference. This means clients do not have to rely on their recollection of what was discussed with the provider. - WHO Medical Eligibility Criteria Wheel (offsite link) guides providers through medical conditions and medications that may be contraindications to use of particular contraceptive methods. The BCS+ tools are generic and can be revised according to national and/or regional guidelines and different contexts"
A video describing use of the BCS+ toolkit in South Africa also is available. To obtain Microsoft Word versions of BCS+ files to modify or revise according to your local setting, please contact the publisher

Treatment of tuberculosis guidelines

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
2010

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These guidelines aim ..."to help national tuberculosis (TB) control programmes in setting TB treatment policy to optimise patient cure: curing patients will prevent death, relapse, acquired drug resistance, and the spread of TB in the community. Their further purpose is to guide clinicians working in both public and private sectors." This new edition of the guidelines integrates the detection and treatment of both HIV infection and multi-drug resistant TB

A handbook for network support agents and other community workers supporting HIV prevention, care, support and treatment

March 2009

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This manual is intended to help network support agents and other community workers be more effective in disseminating standardised information about HIV and AIDS. It "...emphasises the importance of the acquisition of knowledge, skills and the right attitude needed to identify the psychosocial needs of people of people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and address these needs by giving information, counselling and appropriate referrals. Knowledge of counselling and psychosocial care, is combined as much as possible with prevention activities such as adopting HIV basic care positive prevention and adherence to treatment"

Children to the fore! : an easy-to-use training handbook that promotes child rights and cultural issues in the face of HIV in southern Africa

STALLY, Aulora
AZEVEDO-BASCHDORF, Delfina
March 2009

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This handbook aims to get children's rights known, recognised and respected in communities, particularly where they might be compromised by traditional and cultural practices, and where their realisation is threatened by the HIV and AIDS epidemic. It provides methods for upholding positive cultural practices,as well as opportunities to revisit harmful cultural ways. It aims to develop positive approaches to sensitive issues within the community,such as child abuse and discrimination against young girls

Preventing HIV/AIDS among persons with disabilities : a handbook for policy makers, healthcare providers and care givers of people with disabilities

IVOM, Damian O
2009

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This handbook highlights the factors responsible for the spread of HIV, methods of preventing it within persons with disabilities and how they can be reached and integrated into HIV and AIDS programmes and activities, so as to cause a reduction within its communities and in the general population. It is premised on the fact that many programmes and activities on HIV and AIDS in developing countries especially Sub-Saharan Africa have not realised the need to include persons with disabilities

The role of partnerships in health equity

TUTU, Desmond
November 2008

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This commentary sees working in partnership as key to tackling the disparity in access to health care throughout the world. It cites the Medical Knowledge Institute's programmes for addressing HIV in Africa as an example of successful partnerships.

Voluntary counselling and testing : a gateway to linking HIV and sexual and reproductive health

INTERNATIONAL PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION (IPPF)
July 2007

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This publication identifies approaches and issues to Voluntary Counselling and Testing by drawing on the experiences of three sexual and reproductive health organisations in Cambodia, Uganda and Nepal. While the settings and client profiles of each organisation differ, the human rights based approach towards testing and counselling emerges clearly from these case studies. This publication includes an overview of the different types of HIV testing and highlights some of the different and, at times, conflicting views on the essential elements of HIV testing, and on the means by which universal access to HIV testing should be achieved

The essentials of antiretroviral therapy for health care and program managers

HOPE, Ruth
ISRAEL, Ellen
April 2007

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This book provides health care workers and mangers with information and practical guidance relating to antiretroviral therapies (ART). It also considers wider care and treatment issues such as; opportunistic infections, the integration of ART with antenatal and midwifery services, the particular needs of children and young people, support relating to nutrition, spiritual needs, psycho-social and economic issues. In addition, the need for community level support to help with adherence to treatment and address stigma and discrimination are also considered, as is end-of-life care for people whose disease does not respond to treatment

UNAIDS practical guidelines for intensifying HIV prevention : towards universal access

JOINT UNITED NATIONS PROGRAMME ON HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
2007

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These practical guidelines are designed to help policy makers and planners to create an effective national response to HIV prevention, by ensuring that their response matches the epidemic dynamics and social context within their country and the populations who remain most vulnerable to and at risk of HIV infection. The guidelines encourage countries to know the national and local epidemiological scenarios and their current response; to match and prioritise their response; to set ambitious, realistic and measurable prevention targets; to tailor prevention plans to local epidemic scenarios and to use and analyse strategic information

Continuum of care for HIV-positive women accessing programs to prevent parent-to-child transmission : findings from India

MAHENDRA, Vaishali S
et al
2007

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This is the report of a diagnostic study in 2005 to provide an evidence base to strengthen the national Indian prevention of parent-to-child transmission (PPTCT) initiative. The key research questions were: What are the treatment, care, and support needs of HIV-positive women and what services do the women utilize to meet their needs? What are the different ways (clinic-based, community-based, etc) to link HIV-positive women and their families with treatment and care services? The study indicated that linkages between PPTCT and HIV care services, as well as PPTCT and reproductive health services, were limited

Civil society perspectives on TB/AIDS : highlights from a joint initiative to promote community-led advocacy

OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE
TREATMENT ACTION GROUP
2006

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This publication presents six case studies of community-led advocacy activities, aimed at enhancing the capacity of the community to participate in the design, implementation and evaluation of TB/HIV programmes. The HIV epidemic has significantly contributed to the rise of TB incidence, but disease control programmes and policies are generally designed to be implemented independently, with limited resources often allocated to TB projects. The case studies outline some success stories of an integrated approach to TB and HIV, the TB/HIV Advocacy Grants Project, and highlight examples of effective community mobilisation and inclusion of people with HIV. This is a valuable resource for policy makers, organisations and practitioners working in HIV and tuberculosis

Civil society perspectives on TB policy in Bangladesh, Brazil, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Thailand

Public Health Watch, Open Society Institute
2006

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This publication contains an overview of the common themes and funding resulting from five country reports, and the five reports themselves. The World Health Organization has designated all five as TB-high burden countries. The research findings show a low level of awareness about TB, and TB and HIV co-infection; about how TB is transmitted and how it can be cured; and about the link between poverty and TB; as well as low media coverage of TB and a lack of strong communication strategies for national TB programmes. It also contains country-specific recommendations

Q&A : the pharmaceutical industry and access to ARVs in Africa

HEALTH ACTION INTERNATIONAL AFRICA
December 2005

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To mark World AIDS Day 2005, HAI Africa has prepared a simple, concise fact sheet on the pharmaceutical industry's role in access to HIV/AIDS treatment. The document, written in a question-and-answer format, addresses the impact of generic competition, compulsory licences and what the industry can do to increase access. It asks questions such as 'Are pharmaceutical companies involved in initiatives to increase access to ARVs?' and 'Do patents on medicines have an impact on access to ARVs?'

Delivering antiretroviral therapy in resource-constrained settings : lessons from Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda

RITZENTHALER, Robert
July 2005

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This publication is aimed at governments, development partners, and public and private health facilities seeking to provide ART as part of comprehensive care and support for people living with HIV and AIDS. It describes valuable lessons learned from several ART learning sites throughout Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda. By the end of April 2005, more than 5,800 new patients had initiated ART through this treatment and care initiative. Strategies, challenges and key recommendations are presented and comments by national and community leaders, providers and patients appear throughout the text to give readers a sense of the programs as they progressed. The lessons may not have direct relevance to all health facilities providing or planning to provide ART; it should be used or adapted depending on the epidemiological, political, social, cultural and economic context of each setting

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