Program Mission

In partnership with the Mhlontlo and Nyandeni Local Service Areas, and the Eastern Cape Regional Training Center, the goal of the programs in the Mhlontlo and Nyandeni Sub-Districts is to reduce morbidity and mortality by preventing the transmission of HIV, increasing access to care and treatment, and integrating all HIV/AIDS related services. In 2008, preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV became one of the primary goals of the program's work. The program also focuses on overcoming the challenges of working in highly rural areas with severe physician shortages.

Program Spotlight

Located in the OR Tambo District, both the Mhlontlo and Nyandeni programs focus on improving the care given in clinics that serve the several Sub-Districts within these two districts. Mhlontlo has a population of about 250,000, while Nyandeni has a population of about 450,000. One of the major challenges that patients in these Sub-Districts face is access to care, as many of the patients live in remote or rural areas only accessible by dirt tracks.

Progress

Both the Mhlontlo and Nyandeni programs have been focused on increasing the number of patients on voluntary counseling and testing (VCT). In Mhlontlo the number of patients receiving VCT before the collaborative program began in 2005 was 1,206 per month; in March 2009 the number of patients receiving VCT per month was 2,828. In Nyandeni, the number of patients receiving VCT has increased from 2,745 per month on average since 2008 to 3,861 in March 2009.

The Road Ahead

The programs will continue to focus on meeting the targets of initiating 135 new patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) per month in Mhlontlo and 220 patients per month in Nyandeni.

Local health workers are performing a song and dance to promote HIV testing.

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