ENSURING QUALITY HIV HEALTHCARE SERVICE PROVISION IN COMMUNITIES

On the 14^th of August, the Uganda Youth and Adolescents Health Forum (UYAHF) conducted a joint support supervision visit to Kolony Health Center IV and Joy Health Center under the Local Service Delivery For HIV/AIDS Activities (LSDA) project.

The visit was led by the Mbale District HIV focal person Rehema Wanjiro, and coordinated by the project officer Kairanya Edith. It aimed to assess and evaluate the quality of HIV services among others that the health facility is offering to the community and provide support to the facilities where needed through the LSDA. 

During the visit, Ms. Wanjiro met with healthcare providers of the two facilities and reviewed the HIV service delivery tools at the health facilities from testing and care to treatment and prevention, to ensure that the community receives quality HIV/AIDS healthcare services.

Among the key challenges presented by healthcare providers include the myths and misconceptions by some clients who shun TB treatment as most tend not to accept their results.

“Many of the clients don’t believe their results when they are diagnosed with TB and this has led to many of them refusing to start on the treatment not until the conditions become worse” Namusime Andrew, health care provider – Kolonyi Health Center IV. 

While giving feedback to the health care providers, the HIV district focal person advised the team to work closely with VHTs and also involve the local council leaders from the respective communities to ensure that such clients are put on treatment.

Following the visits, Health workers committed to regularly updating their tools on time to avoid data gaps and ensure that clients are sensitized on the importance of providing their NIN numbers, especially for the TB register; The HIV focal persons pledged to provide opportunities for the facility health workers to always be part of the Health Worker training normally organised by the city among others. 

Testimonies:

Liz Abbo, M&E Officer – Kolonyi Health Center IV

“We are very grateful for the support that has been given to us by UPMB through the Uganda Youth and Adolescent Health Forum under the Local Service Delivery Activities Project. They have supported us in the art clinic through support and supervision visits. Initially, we had some gaps in our tools, data management, and service delivery, but through the LSDA project and the regular support provided by the Uganda Youth and Adolescents Health Forum, we have been able to greatly improve the quality of the HIV services we offer to the community.

We are now able to do follow-ups with our clients, something that we were not doing before. We have been able to extend services to the community by physically going to clients while working with the identified VHTs, and this has led to an increase in clients seeking HIV services. In the community, we ensure that we do index testing and viral load bleeding to ensure that clients keep on their medication and support them if there is a challenge. I want to sincerely thank the Uganda Youth and Adolescent Health Forum for this unique kind of support, not forgetting our donor, UPMB”

Khasaka Juliet – Enrolled Midwife, Joy Medical Centre

“The support supervision visits under the LSDA project have really played a great part in terms of improving our service delivery and the provision of quality HIV service in the community. It has been like a check to us. We have always been able to assess ourselves as a result of the regular comments and guidance from the support supervision visits. We have also adapted weekly meetings to evaluate ourselves, identify gaps from the previous week, and see how we can improve. During the support supervision, the UYAHF team has always looked through our data entry tools, and the TB register, and emphasized the issue of quality, following up with clients, and not waiting for them to come to the health facility.”

“Through the project, we have not only gotten to know our gaps but have also been supported in addressing them. Clients now call by themselves to inquire about services, something that had not been happening before, but due to the close relationship we have established with them through community visits and follow-ups, they are free with us. We sincerely want to thank UPMB for the LSDA project and the support UYAHF has been giving us. We pledge to continue improving HIV service delivery and also request that the project continue to support not only the community but also our capacities.”

Ms. Wanjiru Rehema –  The Mbale City HIV focal person.

“As Mbale City, we are impressed by the results that we are getting from the community in terms of HIV prevention, management, and service delivery. The LSDA project has brought a significant improvement to the communities where these health facilities are located. As the HIV focal person, I have worked closely with UYAHF through regular meetings and the sharing of reports, and I am pleased to see that the health centers they have touched on have great indicators in terms of improved service delivery and access to HIV and TB services by the community”

“Through the support supervision, the health facilities have improved on their tools, which, as a city, enabled us to identify those health workers from these facilities and are seeing how we can make use of them as experts who can train others who are not beneficiaries of the project to learn these skills so as to also improve their service delivery”

In terms of tools, the TB indicators are doing very well; they are much better than other health facilities within the city.

“We want to thank our partners, Uganda Youth and Adolescents Health Forum, supported by the UPMB for the LSDA project, for their support to the private, not-for-profit health centers. This effort and support contribute so much to achieving our city’s health indicators. I sincerely request that the project continues and extends further to other health facilities so that more people living with HIV in other communities can benefit”