Integrating HIV, TB, and Malaria services in Uganda
HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria are placing a huge strain on Uganda’s already fragile health system. Health centers are under-funded, under-staffed, and low on morale. Information gathering has been inaccurate and non-conclusive, and laboratories lack equipment, qualified staff, drugs, and supplies.
Evident links between the three diseases have been largely ignored. In Uganda, 50% of TB patients are infected with HIV and 30% of AIDS-related deaths are attributed to TB.
It is widely acknowledged that HIV infections result in a greater risk of death from malaria. Malarial infection leads to an increase in HIV viral load among adults and possibly increased mother-to-child transmission of HIV during pregnancy.
So far, health services have concentrated on single diseases and the effectiveness of the treatment has been low. AMREF and partner AstraZeneca are working together with the Ministry of Health to develop a project to combat all three diseases together at the local and national levels.
Main objectives of the project
The main aim of the project is to create a local and national model to deal with HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria collectively - providing effective and efficient health care.
Poor and remote communities in the Luwero and Kiboga districts of central Uganda will be targeted initially. In particular, the project will focus on women of child-bearing age, people living with HIV/AIDS, and children under the age of five.
More specific objectives of the project include:
- Training health workers and health staff in rural clinics to better prevent, diagnose, and treat HIV, TB, and malaria. In Kiboga, only 50% of positions are filled due to lack of funding and qualified staff.
- Improving efficiency and work practices in laboratories by training laboratory staff to diagnose results more accurately and prevent sample contamination and misdiagnosis
- Improving health information management systems by training health workers to gather and analyze information. The information will be used for better health planning, i.e. ordering the correct amounts of the drugs needed
- Advocating at the district, national, regional, and international levels for more integrated approaches to HIV, TB, and malaria.
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