Our Programmes

Site Mentorship

Experiences are shared and lessons taught through a combination of one-to-one support and mentoring sessions where specific patient needs are discussed and group-based workshops which cover recurring issues.

We have made over 200 visits to district hospitals and over 150 visits to primary health care clinics.

Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT)

With successful interventions the risk of mother to child transmission can be reduced to less than 2%. However, many mothers are not being tested for HIV or are being lost in the system. This is resulting in alarmingly high numbers of HIV positive babies.

We are running PMTCT focussed workshops which teach simple take-home messages to accompany the Department of Health guidelines. We have taught over 450 staff during these sessions.

Adolescent Focus

The success of the antiretroviral roll out in KZN means children with HIV are now living longer and reaching adolescence for the first time. In the UK. we have experience of treating adolescents which poses new challenges including psychosocial issues, adherence, drug resistance and side effects.

In November 2008, we held our first masterclass seminar for experienced professionals focussed on adolescent issues. We had 400 delegates and already have a waiting list of over 200 for our next seminar!

Seminars

We have initiated a series of seminars which provide more intensive learning in a shorter time. Seminars are district based and offered to professionals based at different health care centres. These have the added advantage of sharing good practise and innovation between centres and providing peer support.

Our seminar series includes:

  • Masterclasses for senior staff
  • Medical seminars for community service officers
  • Dietetic seminars for community service officers
  • Specialist seminars for counsellors
  • Multidisciplinary teams
  • Community based

Allied Programmes

Working in association with the University of KZN, Nelson Mandela Medical School, our volunteers regularly participate in teaching sessions in the paediatric modules of the university HIV diploma course for doctors and nurses.

2010 CHIVA Africa UK registered charity No: 1132935