The International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) and ITPC West Africa launched the Regional Community Treatment Observatory in West Africa earlier this month, February 8, 2017. The event took place in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, with representatives from all 11 countries to be covered by the new program. See highlights and quotes from key speakers below.

Need for Community Empowerment Emphasized

“Civil society is the voice that warns and raises awareness of the real problems of people living with HIV. Everything they’ve done to access treatment, everything they continue to do to ensure there is no stock-out in the medication has to be supported.” – Professor Serges Eholie, Head of Department of Infectious and Tropical Disease Hygiene.

“It is important that civil society organizations continue to be involved at all levels. This initiative will contribute to the improvement of this.” – Representative of Dr. Raymonde Coffie, Cote d’Ivoire Minister of Health and Public Hygiene.

Project Empowers Communities to Hold Decision Makers to Account

“The project will provide more comprehensive data to inform decision-makers. It aims at the production of information, exchange and research in order to provide factual elements for making relevant decisions, including for key populations.” – Astou Diop, Chair of ITPC West Africa Board

“This project is an excellent alert system.” – Dr. Djeneba Ouattara, Chair of the Country Coordinating Mechanism, Cote d’Ivoire.

“The Regional Community Treatment Observatory will build an evidence base to show exactly who is being left behind, why they are being left behind, and where in the health system we are failing to deliver quality treatment and service to those who need it. Communities in partnership with key stakeholders will use this information for targeted advocacy, and to propose solutions.” – Solange Baptiste, ITPC Executive Director.

Film Introduces Community Treatment Observatory Project

ITPC introduced the project and it’s goals over the next three years in a short-film which was shown for the first time at the launch event.

Need to Integrate Management of HIV in Health and Community Systems

“The fact is we need to change our approach. We need to integrate and implement the management of HIV/AIDS within the health systems and the community systems so that a person living with HIV has access to treatment. If we manage to do this I think by 2020 we will have taken a big step forward and 50% more people will have access to treatment.” – Alain Manouan, Community Treatment Monitoring Project Director.

The launch event was filmed live, and a full recording (in French) is available on our Facebook page.

Ahead of the launch, ITPC and country partners met to finalize project plans. You can see some highlights and photos from that meeting here.

Find the latest updates on the Regional Community Treatment Observatory on www.itpcglobal.org and via @ITPCglobal

Project Preparations Ahead of Launch Event

Ahead of the launch of ITPC’s Regional Community Treatment Observatory in West Africa earlier this month, ITPC and country partners gathered for a three-day pre-implementation meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to finalize the project preparations and build on planning processes started in Dakar, Senegal in December 2016.

The project will develop 11 national and one regional Community Treatment Observatories. The Observatories will empower networks of people living with HIV to systematically collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data on barriers to accessing HIV treatment. The goal over the next three years is to increase access to treatment in the 11 West African countries, which are: Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

“Community monitoring is clearly not a new idea, but investing in communities to sustainably carry out this work is where we, as ITPC, innovate,” explained Solange Baptiste, ITPC Executive Director. “We will spend time, and resources to build leadership, improve technical capacity on program planning and data management, strengthen organizational systems of finance, enhance M&E standards, and contribute to staff salaries.”

New Advisory Board for ITPC West Africa

ITPC West Africa also held a two-day General Assembly meeting where they nominated a new advisory board who will oversee the responsibilities of the organization as the co-principal recipient of this project. The ITPC West Africa Board will soon announce the recruitment of a new Regional Director who will work alongside the Regional Community Treatment Observatory project team in Abidjan.

New Advisory Board for ITPC West Africa

Today, February 8, 2017, the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) and ITPC West Africa are proud to officially launch our new project Regional Community Treatment Observatory in West Africa (RCTO-WA).

The official ceremony of the launch took place at the Novotel Hotel in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, with distinguished guests and representatives from all 11 countries. Keynote speakers included Dr. Raymonde Coffie, Cote d’Ivoire Minister of Health and Public Hygiene; Dr. Djeneba Ouattara, Chair of the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) – Cote d’Ivoire; UNAIDS representative; Professor Serges Eholie, Head of Department of Infectious and Tropical Disease; and Astou Diop, Chair of ITPC West Africa. The launch, which comes after months of an intense pre-grant implementation process, also premiered a short film introducing the project and its goal over the next three years.

The project, supported by the Global Fund from January 2017 to December 2019, will extend community-based monitoring of HIV treatment to 11 West African countries: Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. The goal is to increase access to treatment across the region.

“The fact is we need to change our approach. We need to integrate and implement the management of HIV/AIDS within the health systems and the community systems so that a person living with HIV has access to treatment. If we manage to do this I think by 2020 we will have taken a big step forward and 50% more people will have access to treatment.”- Alain Manouan, Community Treatment Monitoring Project Director.

For a full recap of official launch ceremony, check out @ITPCglobal or watch our Facebook Live recording (in French).

Joint message from Board of ITPC Global and ITPC West Africa

ITPC Gets Green Light for Community Observatories

The Global Fund Board has given the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) final approval to support Community Observatories in West Africa. The program worth over €3.6 million will run over three years from January 2017 to December 2019. This decision by the Global Fund has been eagerly awaited by communities who are facing unacceptable challenges getting access to HIV treatment in 11 West African countries.

“We are very excited we finally have the go ahead to support communities to monitor access to HIV treatment and services in West Africa,” explains Solange Baptiste, Director of ITPC. “It is an unfortunate reality but communities still need to monitor the nature and quality of services they are offered. This is particularly important in West Africa where fewer than one in four people living with HIV are getting the HIV treatment they desperately need. This regional project will establish community monitoring systems to report regularly at national and regional levels. It will provide critical data for evidence-informed advocacy to help bring about optimal HIV treatment for all.”

Processes Leading to Significant Global Fund Decision

The initial decision to fund 11 Community Observatories came in May 2016, when the Global Fund recommended ITPC for a grant. To get this final agreement, ITPC Global and ITPC West Africa underwent a thorough review of systems and pre-grant processes and developed detailed management documents to guide and frame the implementation of the overall project. The history of each of the stages, from identification of the problem by communities, to meeting the requirements of the Global Fund is described in a recent update. “ITPC Community Observatories in Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Cameroon have shown us that community monitoring leads to improved services and helps to address issues, such as interruptions to drug supplies,” says Astou Diop Chair of Board, ITPC West Africa. “Governments and health service providers are more motivated to make improvements when they know they are being watched.”

ITPC Global and West Africa to share role of Principal Recipient

ITPC Global and West Africa will co-share the responsibilities and duties of the Principal Recipient. As Sub-Recipients, national networks of people living with HIV will lead implementation in each of the 11 countries. The regional network of people living with HIV will support regional efforts and activities as part of the program. Community Consultative Groups, comprised of key populations, women and youth living with HIV, will be established to complement the efforts of the networks in the implementation of Community Observatories at national and regional levels.

Alain Manouan to lead Community Observatories Program

We have successfully recruited an experienced HIV program leader to head up the Global Fund project. Involved in the HIV response in Africa for two decades, Alain Manouan worked for the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, becoming Regional Manager for West and Central Africa, before leading all the Alliance’s Africa programs. Previously, Alain worked for four years as National Program Officer for UNAIDS Cote d’Ivoire national program. The Community Observatories team will be based in Cote d’Ivoire and will be led by Alain. The Community Treatment Monitoring Project Director will work closely with the ITPC West Africa Regional Director to build on existing relationships and structures, and ensure sustainability of the work beyond this Global Fund project.