Current Projects » USAID | Health Policy Initiative: South Africa
2007 – 2012
The USAID | Health Policy Initiative (HPI) strives to improve the enabling environment for health, especially in family planning and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, and maternal health. The initiative also provides assistance in designing policy responses to other infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, avian influenza, and malaria.
In South Africa, Futures Group is implementing an HPI Task Order project to strengthen in-country capacity to design, implement, and evaluate comprehensive HIV prevention, care, and support policies and programs. We work with key stakeholders such as the National Departments of Health and Public Service Administration, local universities, traditional leaders, and civil society organizations. Priority areas include:
- Building capacity of leaders to become advocates for high-level commitment to HIV/AIDS prevention programs
- Formulating and improving key HIV/AIDS policies and strategies, focusing on implementation
- Informing and guiding policy development and implementation
- Strategic planning, resource allocation, and generation and analysis of data for evidence-based decisionmaking
In the area of prevention, Futures Group is actively working with the South African National AIDS Council, traditional leaders, and faith-based organizations to implement activities focusing on abstinence and behavior change. Collaborating with the National Baptist Church of South Africa, we developed a training program to strengthen rollout of the church’s prevention program in nine provinces.
Our palliative care activities focus on equipping people living with HIV/AIDS and their organizations with (1) skills to mobilize and advocate for care and treatment services, (2) training on care messages, and (3) referrals for essential services including HIV/AIDS, testing and counseling, antiretroviral therapy, and opportunistic infection management. The project team is using To the Other Side of the Mountain: a Toolkit for People Living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa, a resource designed by Futures Group and officially approved by the Ministry of Health. It focuses especially on mitigating stigma and discrimination and addressing negative gender norms that may undermine HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment.
The project is also targeting HIV/AIDS in the workplace by providing technical assistance to the Department of Public Service and Administration on government workplace policies, using a capacity building guide previously developed by Futures Group to assist with implementing at least minimum standards on HIV/AIDS.