Education Program to Curb the Spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection - Case Study Example

Implementation plan for an education programme to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe The millennium Development Goals set the by the united nations in 2000 have been important in seeking to alleviate economic and social development in many countries. Goal number six refers to combatting HIV/AID, malaria and other diseases. In line with this development goal, many countries have adopted policies and set themselves targets which are focused towards achievement of this goal (Ministy of Health and Child Welfare, 2010). The spread of the disease remains highly prevalent within Africa, and specifically sub-Saharan Africai. Statistics indicate that in this region nearly 3 million new infections occur annually. While there are numerous approaches which have been adopted in combating HIV/AIDS, it has become essential to enhance the general knowledge of the population regarding the disease. In Zimbabwe, 15% of the population in the country have been infected by the disease (UNAIDS, 2012). This is worrying statistic which requires immediate action for the country to achieve the MDG goal number 6 of the United Nations. While the country has made significant progress and resulted in reduction of people infected with the disease, there is still a challenge in developing a long term solution. The programmes adopted within the country to fight the epidemic are commonly spearheaded by the National AIDS Council (NAC), non- governmental organisations, and Intergovernmental organisations, academic and religious organizations. These organizations have achieved a significant impact in the fight against HIV/ AIDS within the country. An education programme focusing of the young people will be implemented seeking to integrate education on HIV/AIDS within the school curriculum. Both private and public schools are believed to have the capability and significant influence on the information spread among the young generations within the population. The integration of and education programme for AIDS will be critical in ensuring the young people understand the nature of the epidemic and specific actions which they can take in prevention of the disease. Specific emphasis on prevention will be focused on the adolescents and early adulthood when the people become sexually active. The scope of the content presented within this programme will be determined locally in order to ensure consistency with the community and parental values of the society. Community participation in the projects will be critical in the programme because of some controversial issues which regard social values and norms of the people. The disease itself is known to be fatal, yet much of the infections occur through sexual contact. The presentation of the content must be consistent to the communal values and beliefs. This will be important in ensuring that the program is accepted as belonging to the people (Atun & Bataringaya, 2011). In such a manner, the population will be able to accept the programme as part of their own programmes. The policies governing the programme will be presented at different levels of the government for purposes of evaluation of the programme at later stages. The development process of the policies will involve numerous stakeholders who will include, parents, community representatives in the school boards, local medical services, school administrators, students, religious organisations, minority groups and other IGO and NGO involved in the formulation of health education policies, and who have a stake in the HIV/AIDS epidemicii. This will ensure that different perception and opinions are considered before the programme begins delivering information to the students. The programme will be implemented in manner which addresses the development requirements of the students as well as meeting the community expectations. This will include a consideration of different categories of individuals like the school age children who do not attend school, physically and visually impaired individuals, people with learning disabilities and many others. The health education programme will be education children about AIDS at different academic levels. The integration of this programme within the normal school programme will be essential in seeking to enhance the understanding of the students on the importance of personal behaviour on health. Though the programme will be implemented nationally, specific emphasis and priority will be given to regions identified as having high prevalence of AIDS. The programme will be delivered through schools in which there will be team representatives from each of the stakeholders identified. These members of the team will form the personnel team which will be involved in the implementation of the programme in the various selected schools. This training will be focused on three on four general perspectives; nature of the epidemic and ways of controlling the spread, the responsibility of the school in prevention of the spread, material and methods for implementing the programme in schools, and policies of the school regarding infected staff or students. These individuals will have to understand these elements before becoming involved in the actual implementation process. However, the team of personnel who will be actually involved in delivering and teaching the content of the programme will receive specific training on the subject. This will be aimed at enhancing their capacity in delivering the programme expectations. These people will also be undertaken through continuing education on AIDS to ensure they remain informed of the current information. This will ensure they are updated about any advancements made elsewhere regarding the disease. In service training for the personnel will be conducted in liaison with the local education and health departments, and colleges as well. In the lower primary settings, the students are normally taught by a single teacher, who is a professionally trained individual in child development. Within these classes, this teacher will also be the person teaching the children about HIV and AIDS. This will ensure that age-appropriate approaches are adopted in the implementation of the programme. The consideration such setting will be applied even in the higher classes to ensure the effectiveness of the AIDS education programme in achieving the established goals. The principle purpose for providing the education will be informing the young people about AIDS and the various approaches for preventing HIV infections. Delivering an education programme is based on the assumption that the knowledge gained will help the people be able to maintain the desired types of behaviour, and eliminate the risk of HIV infection, consequently reducing the infection rate within the country. Sufficient funding for the programme will be delivered through different interested stakeholders of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. These will include government sources and any other donors who might be willing to support the programme. The country as established a fund specifically focused on financing HIV/AIDS activities. This fund will be crucial to the successful implementation of the programme as it will ensure that the programme does not fully depend on foreign donors for financial support (Levine & Oomman, 2009). The NATF will provide the required financial support to the programme through subsidising the financial services provided by other institutions which will be involved in the implementation process of the education programme. The ministry of finance has also been supportive of health programmes within the country and could provide the required financial resources for this programme as well. Other than the government sources of funding, different other sources will be explored in seeking to ensure the programme has sufficient financial resources to ensure successful implementation. These will include other organisations which have been involved in facilitation of AIDS programme through financing. The Global Fund to fight AIDS has provided financial resources to different AIDS related activities in different countries. This fund through the national government will be able to provide similar kind of support to this AIDS education programme The process of implementing the programme will involve getting the desired support from the various partners who will be playing different roles in supporting the programme. Before the programme can be initiated, sensitisation of the people on the various aspects of the programme. The partners will be involved in the ensuring the target populations and the community accepts the project through understanding its significance to the society. The leadership and management of the various institutions involved within the programme will play a significant role is informing their stakeholders of the programme. The National Aids Council has been actively involved in the management of the AIDS levy fund which will be a fundamental sources of financing for the programme. Through collaboration with this organization, the programme will also be able to receive finding from other foreign donors, who recognise the NAC and the coordinating role it plays in major aids related activities. The management of the programme and training of the facilitators will be responsibility of the NAC in collaboration with the AIDS and Tuberculosis unit of the Ministry of health and child welfare (Jones et al., 2009). These organisations will provide support in the development of programme policies in coordination with the other stakeholders. Service delivery will be conducted through the provision of education and training to the individuals who are directly involved in teaching the others about HIV/AIDS. The healthcare institutions within the country will provide support in terms of materials and information regarding the treatment procedures and policies available within the healthcare system in the country (UNGASS, 2012). The development of the various policies for the programme will be undertaken in collaboration with healthcare providers in the public and private sector. This will enable the participants to be informed accurately of where they can get assistance and HIV related services like testing and many others. Community mobilization will involve a range of NGOs and IGOs working within the country. The United Nations agencies and other bilateral donors will works alongside the government departments in undertaking campaigns to mobilise the communities towards supporting the HIV programme. There are also other NGOs working in aids related programs within the country, and which could be utilised in sensitising the participants of their programmes. These NGOs all operate under the umbrella body of Zimbabwe AIDS network and Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS. The involvement of these umbrella bodies will ensure the programme reaches the communities for mobilization and sensitisation. The aids pandemic is relatively widespread in the sub-Saharan Africa region. This has continuously caused significant problems to the stakeholders in seeking to provide an effective ways of combating the epidemic which is continuously spreading. The implementation of an education programme would be critical in sensitising the population through providing information related to HIV/AIDS to support the process of fighting the disease. Information will range from description of the condition, the process of getting infected, ways of managing the condition once infected and support centres for victims of the disease. The disease has become widespread mainly due to the low sensitisation in the region which has resulted in the existence of many myths regarding the disease. The education programme involves numerous stakeholders being involved within the project and hence provides comprehensive information, and has support of many stakeholders. This enhances the effectiveness of the programme in achieving the desired objectives. References Atun, R., & Bataringaya, J. (2011). Building a durable response to HIV/AIDS: implications for health systems. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 57, S91–S95. Jones, D. S., Tshimanga, M., Woelk, G., Nsubuga, P., Sunderland, N. L., Hader, S. L., & Louis, M. E. S. (2009). Increasing leadership capacity for HIV/AIDS programmes by strengthening public health epidemiology and management training in Zimbabwe. Human Resources for Health, 7(1), 69–80. Retrieved from http://www.human-resources-health.com/content/7/1/69 Levine, R., & Oomman, N. (2009). Global HIV/AIDS funding and health systems: searching for the win-win. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 52, s3–s5. Ministy of Health and Child Welfare. (2010). The Zimbabwe Health Sector Investment Case (2010–2012): Accelerating Progress Towards the Millennium Development Goals. Harare. UNAIDS. (2012). Global Report 2012. New York. Retrieved from http://www.unaids.org/en/dataanalysis/datatools/aidsinfo/ UNGASS. (2012). Zimbabwe Global AIDS Response Progress Report 2012. New York. Retrieved from http://www.unaids.org/en/dataanalysis/knowyourresponse/countryprogressreports/2012countries/  Read More