Landmark Campaign Reaches Rural Kenyans With Tools To Prevent Malaria, Diarrhoeal Disease And HIV

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Also Included In: Aid / Disasters;  Tropical Diseases;  GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology
Article Date: 26 Sep 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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An important new approach to fighting malaria, diarrhoeal disease and HIV among adult men and women aged 15-49 has successfully been demonstrated for the first time in the Western Kenyan district of Kakamega in Lurambi division.

One of the unique features of the campaign, called the "Integrated Prevention Demonstration," was that it provided adults an opportunity to learn their HIV status through community-based testing. Along with an HIV test, those participating were also provided a CarePack(TM) containing a PermaNet(R) bed net, a LifeStraw(R) water purifier, condoms and educational material for the prevention of malaria, diarrhoeal disease and HIV respectively. All products were provided regardless of whether they took an HIV test. Nearly 50,000 adults participated, reaching nearly every adult and family in the area.

"The IPD campaign was a monumental achievement. Never before have people line-up by the thousands to take a voluntary HIV test," said Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, CEO of Vestergaard Frandsen and the developer of the IPD concept.

All services were provided free of charge at 30 community-based delivery sites open from September 16-22, 2008. By providing an HIV test for more than 49,000 people, the campaign demonstrated that it is possible for Kenya to reach its national goal of having 80% of adults know their HIV status.

During the campaign, 18,000 men between ages 15-49 were tested for HIV; a previously hard to reach group for testing and counseling. The Kenyan Ministry of Health will provide this group with follow-up medical care. This marks a profound increase in the number and speed of HIV testing.

"For the first time, a campaign provided a lifesaving care package of multiple health interventions as encouragement for voluntary HIV counselling and testing. By offering a CarePack(TM) benefiting both HIV positives and negatives, we have enabled a significant majority of the population to know their HIV status while protecting them from three of the largest killers in Kenya: malaria, diarrhoeal disease, and HIV," added Mr. Vestergaard Frandsen. "Lessons learned from this campaign will contribute to Kenya's national scale-up plan for HIV counseling and testing, and the Millennium Development Goals. The IPD campaign was designed to be replicated, and therefore holds the potential to reduce suffering and save lives far beyond the borders of Kenya."

Partners for the IPD campaign include: Vestergaard Frandsen, Kenyan Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, CHF International, and EXP Momentum.

Vestergaard Frandsen is an international company specializing in complex emergency response and disease control products. The company operates under a unique Humanitarian Entrepreneurship business model. This "profit for a purpose" approach has turned humanitarian responsibility into its core business. Vestergaard Frandsen was founded in Denmark in 1957 and has since evolved into a multinational leader focused on helping to achieve the UN's Millennium Development Goals.

Vestergaard Frandsen

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