Aaron Mulaki - Health Policy Project, Futures Group, Kenya

Building capacity for the utilization of a

global evidence resource in HIV and related programs in

Kenya

Aaron Mulaki, HPPRegina Omban, NACCWanjiru Mukoma, LVCTJill Gay, Melanie Croce-Galis and Karen Hardee,

What Works for Women & Girls

21 March, 2013

Supported by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and Open Society Foundations and is carried out under the auspices of USAID’s Health Policy Project and the Public Health Institute

Compiles evidence on interventions that address the needs of women and girls related to HIV outcomes

Spans more nearly 3000 articles and reports with more than 450 interventions from nearly 100 countries

Centralized location - searchable website with evidence for successful gender-specific programming

www.whatworksforwomen.org

Focused on developing countries

Searched SCOPUS, Popline, Medline, gray literature with various methodologies (wom*n and HIV, etc.) for evaluated interventions with measurable outcomes

Guided by consultations/reviews by more than 100 experts

Review currently covers 2008 through January 2012

Ranked evidence using a modified Gray scale into categories: What Works, Promising, Gaps

What Works Methodology

Kenya has a generalized epidemic with a high burden on women and girls.

7.1% living with HIV

Widowed women 20.1%, separated/divorced 16%, polygamous 10.1%, in marriage 7%, never married 4.6%

Young women ages 15 to 24 are four times more likely to be living with HIV than men

Gender roles and norms, violence affect prevention, treatment access

The Kenyan context

Lead authors and partners hold dissemination meetings at national level with NACC

Dissemination in relevant forums including policy meetings

Accompanying curricula developed by a Kenyan NGO and further trainings planned through LVCT/HPP

Local partners to intensify dissemination at county forums to ensure HIV gender plans, priorities are informed by evidence

Implementing What Works at the Country Level

Key Interventions

Half day worth of time to provide an overview to newcomers

Cost of modest refreshments

Computers, Internet

Website publically accessible and static copy available on USB

Resources required

Wide agreement that prevention is still critical and needs to be scaled up

Voluntary medical male circumcision can help women

Condoms are still critical

Sex workers-comprehensive approach required

Women who use drugs/Partners of men who use drugs can benefit from comprehensive harm reduction programs, peer education, sex-segregated group sessions

Treatment is a huge success story, but gender roles and norms affect access for both men and women

Implementing What Works for Women and Girls in Kenya

Evidenced-based approaches usually have a long lag time in adaptation

Civil society and government officials now drawing on the evidence based to revise strategies for the implementation of the National AIDS Strategic Plan

Kenya continues to be both a powerhouse of evidenced-base research and is currently drafting a new HIV/AIDS strategy using the evidence base

Challenges and counter strategies

Publicly accessible summaries of the evidence are highly valued

There is benefit in the global partnership on evidence compilation through country-owned processes

Kenya is leading the way in demonstrating the value of this partnership

Lessons Learnt and Conclusion

What Works Website

For more information, please visit www.whatworksforwomen.org

www.healthpolicyproject.com

Thank You!

The Health Policy Project is a five-year cooperative agreement funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development under Agreement No. AID-OAA-A-10-00067, beginning September 30, 2010. It is implemented by Futures Group, in collaboration with CEDPA (CEDPA is now a part of Plan International USA), Futures Institute, Partners in Population and Development, Africa Regional Office (PPD ARO), Population Reference Bureau (PRB), RTI International, and the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood (WRA).