Rural sub-Saharan Africa is the largest region in the world with the greatest need of HIV/AIDS services. Unfortunately though, its lack of healthcare infrastructure, combined with poverty and the distances patients must travel to obtain care, has created a strong disconnect between need and actual access to these services. Without a means of delivery, public accessibility is nonexistent, services
are unavailable where they are most needed, and incentive to invest in such services is severely reduced. The sheer size of the region, in terms of people and geographic expanse, is another factor which dissuades organizations from investing in the development of a more advanced healthcare system. With over 433 million people living in rural poverty, targeting those who unwittingly carry HIV/AIDS becomes a critical and extremely time sensitive matter. This requires real data on infection rates to be continuously collected so it can be used to direct response in real-time. The key barrier to entry in such an impoverished region is having a delivery system that addresses these issues while consistently reaching the most isolated populations. The endHIVnow Initiative builds on the demonstrated successes of its board members’ programs previously mentioned. Our HTC program deploys all-terrain vehicles outfitted as mobile HIV clinics fortified with a fully trained staff. We equip them with rapid HIV/AIDS test kits and lab-free point-of-care (POC) CD4 diagnostic equipment, which is used to measure the progression of the disease in the patient. By using POC CD4 diagnostic equipment, we can render results on the spot in less than ten minutes. To encourage and facilitate HIV/AIDS testing, we plan to use Rapid Data Kits (RTKs). Usage of the RTK opens the door to home-based testing by our VHPs for greater regional pe*******on, especially in the more remote communities with dispersed populations. We partner with and train the staff of local NGOs who assist in the design and implementation of our endHIVnow program. These local collaborators are already deeply rooted in their communities and partnered with their local healthcare system, for which they provide HIV/AIDS services including training those who administer tests and HIV Testing & Counseling (HTC) counselors. They are leaders in the frontline battle against HIV/AIDS and play an important role in addressing HIV/AIDS stigma in their communities by providing education and support networks for those who test positive. The staff is both knowledgeable and accomplished in overcoming the cultural barriers associated with uptake and adherence, allowing for a higher success rate in each catchment area. They will employ counseling, care, and preventative efforts including education and condom distribution throughout the entirety of the program. Our NGO partners will also receive training in the use of our data survey system, test systems, usage of ODKs to locate untested individuals, and mobile phones. As testing proceeds, we will create a continuously expanding, representative data set, available in the public domain, to further increase direct intervention. The final component of our program is aimed at cultivating community healthcare. During visits, our mobile clinic staff will train VHPs in each community to further assist our intervention efforts, insuring increased acceptance and cohesion. We intend to involve VHPs in innovative approaches to facilitate the extension of our reach, including home testing using RTKs that can be administered to those individuals unable to attend the clinics. We equip VHPs with mobile phones to keep their communities in touch with our program as well as their regional healthcare system. Together, we drive healthcare infrastructure, information, and materials to those without access to traditional healthcare facilities. To truly understand the need of healthcare services in sub-Saharan Africa, it is important to look at the statistical prevalence of the disease. There are over 33.3 million cases of HIV/AIDS worldwide, with only a mere 19%, or just 6.33 million of those cases being diagnosed and treated. An astonishing 22.9 million of those cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa alone. Of that shocking 22.9 million, over 13.5 million remain undiagnosed and unaware they carry and spread the deadly disease. Over 2.3 million of these cases in sub-Saharan Africa are children under the age of 15. All in all, there are more undiagnosed cases of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa (13.5 million) than diagnosed cases of HIV/AIDS worldwide. The bottom line is that 60% of people living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa are not receiving the necessary testing or treatment and unfortunately and unintentionally continue to spread the disease. In this region of the world, over half of the population lives in rural poverty with limited access to any sort of healthcare. Our program addresses this problem head on by driving the solution to them. Mobile HIV/AIDS interventions have been shown to work in this environment, but only when outside funding is readily available, as was the case in Botswana, where the funding came from the U.S. Other successful ongoing programs, such as the mobile clinic program started by W.I.S.H. Board Chairman, Dr. Williams, are made possible by private funding from sources such as the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF). Our target countries, which we have identified as those most in need at present time, do not have the resources to implement the necessary programs in an ongoing way.
