MOZAMBIQUE – Mozambique has hosted an eventful three-day workshop in Maputo targeted at increasing knowledge on principles of community-led monitoring (CLM) and harmonizing the program implementation guide across the country in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The workshop held in Maputo from 15th June – 17th June 2022 focused on community-led monitoring which an accountability mechanism for the national HIV response as it is led and implemented by local community-led organizations of people living with HIV and other affected groups or community entities.
The three-day event aimed at increasing knowledge on principles and steps of community-led monitoring, harmonizing the program implementation guide in Mozambique, defining eligibility criteria as well as outlining a plan and timeline for program implementation.
The ambitious goal of the event is to improve service delivery and patient outcomes by identifying data-driven solutions that overcome barriers as well as ensure beneficiaries access and receive optimized patient-centered HIV services.
Community-Led Monitoring is an accountability mechanism for the national HIV response, led and implemented by local community-led organizations of People Living with HIV , key population networks , other affected groups or other community entities.
In addition, community-led monitoring of HIV services will help the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to see what people on HIV treatment need to access essential services while ensuring people living with HIV have the support of civil society in their communities.
The Mozambican Civil Society Platform for Health (PLASOC-M), Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS), US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the National AIDS Council (CNCS) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria partnered to organize the workshop in Maputo.
The event brought together key HIV response stakeholders to comprehensively address advances and challenges of MLC in the program’s efforts to engage the community so that it has an active voice in the response to HIV, identifying barriers to access to services and advocating for their solutions.
The stakeholders agreed on key issues including the clear definition of CLM and implementation stakeholders, the definition of performance indicators, clarification on the data collection systems and methodology.
The group also agreed on necessary adjustments to the data collection tools to make them responsive to the indicators, review of the eligibility criteria to improve the participation of community-based organizations as well as the timeline of activities to be developed.
Meanwhile, Kenya’s Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe called for efficient and verifiable programming approaches in the war against HIV/AIDS in an effort to sustain gains realized over the years during a virtual planning meeting of the PEPFAR country operational plan.
Mutahi Kagwe further proposed that all partners should support local production capacity by prioritizing purchase of locally manufactured products and commodities which will ultimately ensure a steady supply of medicines to all health facilities and ease the burden of people living with HIV.
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