Past Programmes & Projects
Boithato
UCSF collaborated with Anova in implementing project Boithato, an evidence based HIV prevention project adapted from the Mpowerment model development and implemented in the USA and other countries in the world. This project aims to reduce HIV prevalence, encourage safer sex and constant HIV testing among MSM in the district. Ultimately, the project will build a community of empowered MSM and reduce stigma and discrimination. The Boithato project links with Health4Men supported MSM health facilities in Nelspruit.
Cape Winelands
Anova Health Institute has supported the Western Cape Department of Health (DOH) since the roll-out of the ARV programme in 2004. Anova strives to bring innovative healthcare solutions to facilities and the most at risk and underserved communities in rural Western Cape. Anova supports DoH in seven “hotspot” clinics in the Cape Winelands and is an implementation partner for the POPART study in five clinics. The primary objective of the PopART study is to evaluate the impact of a community-level combination prevention package, which includes universal HIV testing, active linkage into care and intensified provision of ART, on population level HIV incidence.
Faith
An exciting new project 'Faith' is taking HIV testing services (HTS) to another level. The project, which was born through a partnership between INERELA+ the Anova Health Institute (after securing a grant from Aids Fonds), implements religious leaders to test men for HIV and then link them to care through their congregations. Over the next three years, Anova will manage the HTS and linkage to care, while INERLA+ will manage mobilisation and training of the religious leaders. It will be implemented in Mopani district in Limpopo Province and Soweto in Johannesburg in the Gauteng Province. HTS and antiretroviral treatment in South Africa is significantly lower among men than in women. Some reasons found for this point towards lack of time due to work commitments and fear of stigma. This project aims to address this testing gap by counselling men, including gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), attending religious congregations.
Health4Trans
Health4Trans focuses on transgender people. We have developed transgender training manuals for clinicians working within the public and private health sectors, to provide broad access to transgender competent healthcare. The Health4Trans Facebook profile hopes to serve as a physical, sexual and mental health support social media platform for the transgender and gender non-conforming community of Southern Africa. Its goal is to do so, by using content, information and other resources supplied by Trans and gender non-conforming individuals, themselves. The content is to help eliminate the stigma associated with the Trans community and aid members of this community empower themselves and one another with resources and sexual health information and available healthcare services.
I-Heart Isidayi | GBT Connexions | Seskona
From 1 October 2016, in collaboration with Aurum through funding from CDC, Anova scaled up the evidence based Boithato Project into three districts, namely Ekurhuleni in Gauteng Province, eThekwini and UMgungundlovu Districts in KwaZulu-Natal Province. The empowerment projects in the three districts are focused on MSM and Transgender (TG) people. With the active participation of MSM and TG community representatives, the three projects were branded GBT Connexions (Ekurhuleni) I-Heart Isidayi (Ethekwini) and Seskhona (UMgungundlovu). The GBT Connexions office is located in Benoni, I-Heart Isidayi in Durban and Seskhona office in Pietermaritzburg. In line with the empowerment approach, standard activities are implemented across the three projects including holding regular meetings with core group members, facilitating empowerment group sessions, engaging in community dialogues, outreaching into communities, bringing MSM and TG together in large events as well as HIV testing services that include TB and STI screening. Some context specific activities will be taken on board in the coming years. It is envisioned that these projects will reduce stigma and discrimination, promote safe sex behaviours, promote regular testing and linkage to care as well as build strong and empowered communities of MSM and TG persons in the districts.
Khutso Kurhula
Khutšo Kurhula is based in the Mopani district in Limpopo, and engages in a series of health system strengthening and capacity building efforts to improve access to services as well as the overall quality of service in HIV prevention and care programmes. The Mopani district is a rural area where the population is scattered across numerous smaller villages and communities.
Tirisanong
Anova’s Tirisanong project partners with the City of Johannesburg and the Gauteng Department of Health (DoH) to support and strengthen healthcare facilities in and around the iconic and bustling area of Soweto, regions C, D, E and G. Tirisanong supports over 70 health facilities at all levels of the health system, working closely with the DoH, providing coordination with other partners and assisting with planning and implementation of health programmes. Anova provides technical support for supply chain and pharmacy, facility and sub-district management training, and monitoring and evaluation support.
Your care network
Your Care Network is a model of contracting private GPs to provide HIV services on behalf of the Department of Health. Through government and donor funding, Your Care Network offers free HIV testing services and free HIV treatment for those who test HIV positive through private GP’s on the Your Care Network.