Global Fund GC7 Integrated TB/HIV Project

The objective of the Global Fund GC7 integrated TB/HIV project is to efficiently scale up and integrate gender-sensitive facility and community TB and HIV services towards epidemic control while strengthening resilient and sustainable systems for the provision of quality health services.

Collaboration:

ARFH ensures continuous collaboration with the Government of  the 6 states where he implements GC7. The HQ team was in Kwara and Rivers during its routine supervision/oversight and had deliberations with the principal officers of the sate Ministry of Health including TB & HIV programs. The meeting centred on the progress of the integration and government support to the project.

National Review Meetings:

ARFH is an important stakeholder and actively participated in the Nigeria HIV and TB Program Review Meeting held between 8^th and 10^th of May 2024 with the Global Fund Country team, National agencies, state ministries of Health and Partners at Exclusive Serene Hotels, Abuja. The meeting aimed to assess progress on priority thematic areas and service coverage.

ARFH HQ team together with other national and state stakeholders from 36 states plus FCT deliberated on the operations of TB/HIV integrated services in Nigeria in a Bootcamp eeting  held at Sheraton Hotel Lagos from 13^th to 17^th May, 2024. The focus was on’’ Integrating TB/HIV services for effective healthcare delivery- achieving better result’’.

Capacity Building:

ARFH organized a capacity building Orientation training  for owners and staff of PPM facilities in Ekiti and Kwara states and the FCT. These include Faith-Based Organizations, Private-for-Profit facilities, Community pharmacies, patent medicine stores and stand-alone laboratories. The aim of the training was to provide the participants with the adequate information to improve their knowledge and build their skills to implement integrated gender-sensitive facility TB/HIV services according to national TB/HIV guidelines towards epidemic control. The trainings held in Ekiti, Kwara and the FCT on the 8^th-10^th of May, 6^th-8^th of May and 13^th-15^th of May respectively.

National Childhood TB Testing Week:

One of the highlights of Q2 2024 activities was the National Childhood TB Testing Week which held across the 36 states and the FCT from the 27^th of May to the 2^nd of June, 2024. ARFH supported the State TB programs and the CBOs in  Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, Nasarawa, Rivers states and the FCT  for a massive awareness creation campaign and screening for Tuberculosis in the communities. Though the week was targeted at finding pediatric TB patients, some adults were also diagnosed. The summary of the patients diagnosed is as shown below;

A total of 667 patients were diagnosed with TB across ARFH’s six (6) states of implementation (611 below 15years). This shows that with more targeted screening and testing, there will be an increase in childhood TB diagnosis and notification thereby narrowing the childhood TB notification gap.