ANS-CI
17/19 regions
ANS-CI is a non-governmental organisation supporting groups responding to HIV at the community level in Côte d'Ivoire.
Cote d'Ivoire has the highest HIV prevalence in West Africa. In 2007, an estimated 3.9% of adults were living with HIV, with regional rates varying from 1.7% in the north-west to 6.1% in Abidjan. Around 420,000 of the nation’s children are orphans due to AIDS. There were an estimated 38,000 AIDS deaths in 2007.
Large gaps remain in the response to the epidemic. In 2007, only 28% of those in need of antiretroviral therapy were receiving it, and 12% of pregnant, HIV positive women received drugs to reduce the risk of mother-to-child transmission.
The political and military conflict, which began in 2002, has greatly hampered Cote d'Ivoire’s response to HIV, and has resulted in limited access to health care and medication, particularly in the conflict zone. The unrest has led to a massive displacement of people, both within and across the country’s borders (in 2008 there were an estimated 621,000 internally displaced people). The resulting instability has increased poverty and the marginalisation of some population groups.
WHAT WE DO
Capacity building
The Alliance has worked in Cote d’Ivoire since April 2005, with key funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The programme is managed in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC/Projet Retroci, Abidjan).
The Alliance’s linking organisation in Cote d’Ivoire is ANS-CI (Alliance Nationale contre le SIDA en Cote d’Ivoire). Its programmes and activities are rooted in developing the capacity of groups responding to HIV at the community level. Interventions have focused on:
- extending voluntary HIV counselling and testing services through a partnership between local government, the Minister of Public Health, and non-governmental organisations and associations
- care and support for orphans and children made vulnerable due to HIV/AIDS
- support for treatment literacy and community home-based care
- strengthening prevention interventions focused on abstinence and being faithful, in partnership with the Minister of National Education and faith-based groups
- strengthening focused prevention work with highly vulnerable populations, notably sex workers and men who have sex with men
- strengthening the national monitoring and evaluation system for community based activities, in partnership with the Ministry of AIDS.
Partnership with RIP+
The Alliance has worked in partnership with the Ivorian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (RIP ) to provide a continuum of care and to create demand for services, by training members of non-governmental and community-based organisations in treatment literacy and community support for antiretroviral treatment. The Alliance has provided ongoing organisational support to RIP and other highly vulnerable groups.
FUTURE PLANS
The Alliance’s work in Cote d’Ivoire will focus on increasing the availability of HIV-related services, reducing barriers to access, and generating demand for services. We will develop a sustainable strategy for mobile clinics and voluntary HIV counselling and testing centres, which will integrate these services into district health services. The emphasis will be on developing partnerships with key Government ministries and organisations that have the capacity to support smaller community-based organisations in their regions. We will also work to address the integration of SRH and HIV and gender-related issues, reduce stigma and discrimination, and promote the involvement of people living with HIV in programming and policy.