Launched in July 2020, the Ana Patsogolo Activity (APA) delivers health and social protection services to prevent new HIV infections and reduce vulnerability to HIV among orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in 8 high HIV burden districts and across 117 high volume health clinics in southern Malawi.
Led by the Bantwana Initiative of World Education Inc. (WEI/Bantwana) and implemented in partnership with the Government of Malawi and four Malawian NGOs, APA builds on and strengthens local capacity to deliver evidence-based services within an integrated referral network and HIV sensitive case management system. APA improves coordination between health and social welfare and works in close collaboration with clinical service providers and health facilities to address the social determinants that are barriers to HIV prevention, care and treatment. APA’s multi-sectoral approach to HIV sensitive case management is helping Malawi to shift the delivery of health, child protection, and education services towards a more integrated socio-ecological model that supports communities and families.
APA Key Result Areas
- Enhanced capacity of families and communities to support OVC and AGYW
- Increased uptake of health, HIV prevention, care and treatment services among OVC and AGYW
- Reduction in sexual violence and GBV among OVC and AGYW
- Enhanced child protection systems in Malawi including strengthened local organizational and technical capacity including
APA delivers three complimentary programs models that work together through an integrated referral network to support HIV epidemic control.
The OVC Comprehensive model uses a family-based resource intensive approach to mitigate the impact of HIV and improve HIV outcomes for children, adolescents, and families by collaborating with clinical service providers and leveraging trained community case workers who deliver integrated services through case management, home visits, and referrals.
The OVC Preventative model is a curriculum based approach to primary prevention for HIV and violence delivered by trained facilitators using evidence-based content in interactive small group sessions.
DREAMS provides a combination of behavioral, structural, and bio-medical interventions that address the complexities of AGYW’s lives. Moving away from siloed and vertical programming, APA provides a layered package of interventions based on age, HIV risk profiles, and individual circumstances so that adolescent girls and young women receive the appropriate sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and social protection services.
When implemented synergistically, these three program models support the achievement of Malawi’s 95-95-95 targets across the continuum of care as illustrated in the diagram below.