In response to the termination of a large USAID-funded HIV project, the Kenyan National AIDS and STIs Control Program, or NASCOP, under the country’s Ministry of Health, has launched an effort to train health care workers to provide adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services. A program manager for this initiative acknowledged that the effort falls far short of replacing the USAID project.
Date: 2/26
Region: Africa
Country: Kenya
Topic: Health, Gender Equality & Inclusion
Policy Lens: Global Health Security
Entry Type: Secondary Effect
Additional Context: This information was collected as part of The Aid Report’s original reporting, “Life after DREAMS: Kenya’s girls navigate HIV risk without US support.” The feature story examined how the end of the PEPFAR-funded DREAMS program cut off HIV-prevention support for millions of girls across sub-Saharan Africa.
NASCOP program manager Elizabeth Nailantei said the focus has been on building provider capacity, with trainers now trained in 26 counties. Nailantei acknowledged that the effort falls far short of replacing DREAMS. The initiative offers free counseling services, the provision of contraceptives, and is creating safe spaces so that vulnerable populations at risk of stigmatization don’t have to queue with the rest of the public for services.
Source: Devex