• Sector:
  Health
• Project name:
  Capacity Building for HIV/AIDS Care & Support in the Mekong SubRegion
• Country:
  Vietnam, Lao PDR, Thailand and Cambodia
• Project location:
  Ho Chi Minh City
• Name of client:
  AusAID

Description of project:
The project evaluates the capacities of selected healthcare facilities to support development of a multi-disciplinary model of ambulatory care and healthcare worker training and reference and capacities of healthcare staff to provide multi-disciplinary care.

The outcomes of the program include:

• It is to assess the current and potential system of community referral and home-based care and support. The project will bridge the gap between hospital and community based care, pilot training programs in counselling and clinical practice for staff in Lao PDR and Vietnam and provide tangible links between facilities in both countries and the staff of the Bamrasnaradura Hospital, Thailand.
• The project will also assess the potential capacity of hospitals, one in Lao PDR and one in Vietnam to become National and Regional Training Reference centres enabling them to form the basis of a community and NGO network of care and support for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Subsequently, the project will be extended to a third hospital in Cambodia.
• An evaluation of the needs of PLWHA re access and referral within the health system has taken place through a workshop. Consultants will assist hospital staff develop policies and procedures relating to occupational exposures and standard and transmission-based precautions.

Services provided:
UNSW IP is responsible for the mobilisation of technical experts. This includes organisation of travel, visas, accommodation and preparation of all pre departure material. UNSW IP maintains close contact with consultants? while in country, assisting them when required. UNSW IP is al so responsible for submission of mid term and final reports. The project?s day to day financial management is in the hands of the UNSW IP?s experienced accounting staff. Designed and delivered training for PLWHA in Participatory Action Research methods. Supervised data collection and fieldwork. Analysis of data and writing of reports. Paper on project presented at the XIV International AIDS Conference, Barcelona, July 2002.