ICASA 2023 came a year after the UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2022 Report, In Danger, which revealed the potentially catastrophic impacts of COVID-19 on health systems worldwide and the urgent need to reinforce HIV health systems. ICASA 2023 offered a unique platform for leaders, activists, scientists, and communities to take stock of the multiple and overlapping crises and find avenues for mitigating the devastating impact on people living with and affected by HIV.
Prevention Of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT)
INERELA+ is dedicated to improving prevention services for mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT). This involves expanding and improving the testing and retesting of pregnant women, ensuring that pregnant and breastfeeding mothers have access to antiretroviral therapy (ART), and providing early infant diagnosis services for babies born to HIV-positive mothers through trained Religious Leaders. Our Religious Leaders extend the reach of PMTCT services through counselling, education and referral to service providers. This approach ensures that pregnant women and their families receive comprehensive support and care within their own communities.
Primary HIV Prevention in Rwanda, Tanzania, Botswana, Zambia, South Africa, and Malawi
As part of the SAVE The Children, UNAIDS, Robert CARR Foundation funded Project, INERELA+ offers a strategic mix of behavioural and structural HIV prevention interventions tailored to local contexts and the needs of different populations. These populations include adolescent girls and young women, high-risk boys and young men, key populations, people in HIV sero discordant relationships, and those within prison settings.
Bridging Gaps in Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe
Since the year 2020, our Hands Off Project has worked with Ministry of Health to worked to develop and implement national approaches that address the needs of key populations. The Project focuses on legal barriers facing sex workers, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) populations—who are disproportionately affected by HIV. The Project developed a Sex Worker manual to address issues affecting key populations and facilitated a Religious Leaders training of trainer’s program that will be scaled up across a number of Provinces.
INERELA+ creates an enabling environment for sustained access to HIV and AIDS interventions by enhancing good governance practices and accountability mechanisms. We work within policy and public health discussions occurring among subnational, national platforms, and globally.
Highlights UN Trust Fund Project – South Africa, Ghana and Burundi
INERELA+ is supporting HIV testing among pregnant women as part of the UN Trust Fund Project in South Africa, Ghana and Burundi. The women identified as were identified as HIV-positive are successfully linked to treatment.
INERELA+ SAVE Approach – A Proven Methodology to Fight Stigma and Discrimination
After noticing the stigma within some messaging that was being given for prevention (abstain; if you can’t, be faithful; if you can’t, use condoms). INERELA+ through its Founder, now Patron Rev Can Gideon Byamugisha, came up with the SAVE approach.
Click here to read more about the SAVE method.