October 2012

Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Partners with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control

October 1, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Eric Kilongi, EGPAF, +254 717 722 492, ekilongi@pedaids.org

New Program Will Help Strengthen Health Systems to Improve Service Delivery for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria

October 1, 2012, LILONGWE, MALAWI – The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) is pleased to announce its new partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a continued partnership with the Ministry of Health in Malawi with the award of a five-year program to strengthen HIV service delivery. 

The program plans to implement activities in seven districts in Malawi’s Central West, Central East, and North zones. Funded by the CDC under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the program will strengthen district-level health capacity and systems to ensure the provision of high-quality service delivery.

Through this program, EGPAF and its local partners will work closely with the CDC, the Malawi Ministry of Health, and Zonal and District Health Offices to implement health systems strengthening activities designed to improve service delivery for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), malaria, maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), and other public health problems which have led to high mortality and morbidity for Malawi’s 14.4 million people. 

This five-year award builds upon the Foundation’s previous work in Malawi. For more than a decade, EGPAF has provided critical technical support and expertise to build the capacity of Ministry of Health-supported healthcare systems and facilities and to increase access to comprehensive and integrated services for prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) and HIV care and treatment for women, children, and families in Malawi.

To date, EGPAF has reached nearly 600,000 women in Malawi with services for prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT).

Although adult HIV prevalence in Malawi has decreased from 11.4% in 2004 to 10.6% in 2010, about 80,000 new HIV infections still occur annually. In addition, the HIV epidemic continues to influence TB rates in Malawi, where 68% of all TB patients are also HIV-positive. Maternal, infant, and under-5 mortality rates remain high in Malawi, where only 73.2% of births occur in health facilities. 

“Building capacity at national and district levels and prioritizing health systems strengthening interventions will be crucial to sustainably delivering quality HIV prevention, care, and treatment services,” said Project Director Nicole Buono. Ms. Buono also successfully led Project HEART, a highly regarded, CDC-funded HIV/AIDS program implemented by EGPAF across five African countries.

The program will focus on the following objectives:

  • Scale-up and improved quality of comprehensive HIV service delivery
  • Improved district level planning, financial management, implementation, and monitoring
  • Improved review, analysis, and use of data to support the scale-up of integrated HIV service delivery
  • Strengthened health systems and infrastructure at district, facility, and community levels

“We are thrilled to be a new partner of CDC in Malawi,” said Ms. Buono. “This program will be built upon EGPAF’s experience in Malawi, as well as our work with CDC and PEPFAR across Africa.”

For more information about EGPAF’s work in Malawi, please visit pedaids.org/Malawi.

###

About the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF):
EGPAF is a global leader in the fight against pediatric HIV/AIDS, and has reached more than 14.7 million women with services to prevent transmission of HIV to their babies. It currently works at more than 5,600 sites and in 15 countries to implement prevention, care, and treatment services; to strengthen national health systems and build the capacity of ministries of health and local organizations; to further advance innovative research; and to execute global advocacy activities that bring dramatic change to the lives of millions of women, children, and families worldwide.  For more information, visit pedaids.org.