Burkina Faso

Alliance linking organisation: Initiative Privée et Communautaire de lutte Contre le VIH/SIDA au Burkina Faso (IPC)

Cafe Sante, one of 14 such roadside kiosks in Burkina Faso, distributes literatute and condoms © 2004 Gideon Mendel for International HIV/AIDS Alliance

With a population of 12.4 million , Burkina Faso is a low-resource country with a generalised epidemic. After Côte d’Ivoire, it is the second most affected in West Africa, with a national adult prevalence rate of 4.2%.

Although progress has been made in terms of greater commitment from both the country itself and international partners, it is still estimated that more than 75% of HIV-positive people with advanced HIV infection are in need of treatment. Around 240,000 children under the age of 17 have lost at least one parent. The number of new infections in Burkina Faso climbed in all age brackets in 2004 (there is a nationwide tendency towards under-notification of cases by the health system).

HIV and poverty combined have devastated the economy and the population in general. People living with HIV, women and young people in difficult circumstances, orphans and vulnerable children, and migratory groups are the hardest hit. Despite its commitment, the government is constrained by inadequate resources and infrastructure. This, combined with the widespread stigma and discrimination around HIV, means that few people have access to cost-effective care and support services and many remain unaware of their HIV status. Civil society is under-resourced, and many non-governmental and community-based organisations lack the capacity to respond adequately to the growing epidemic.

What we do

In partnership with Initiative Privée et Communautaire de lutte Contre le VIH/SIDA au Burkina Faso (IPC), the Alliance is involved in programmes aimed at prevention (mostly with young people), providing care and support to people living with HIV, scaling up community support to orphans and vulnerable children, and improving access and adherence to treatment. In 2006, IPC with support from the Alliance will be providing financial and technical support to 40 community-based organisations in and around Ouagadougou working to improve the lives of people living with HIV, orphans and vulnerable children and their families.

Working from the concept that community-based organisations are crucial to widening access to anti-retroviral treatment, the Alliance has partnered with Association African Solidarité (AAS). This small, community-based organisation in Ouagadougou has pioneered care and treatment for people living with HIV through its treatment centre, providing a free treatment and adherence support programme for 150 patients called ‘Projet Orange’.

Community-based HIV programmes offering care and support to people living with HIV and affected children are constantly confronted with the devastating impact of HIV on the resources and capacity of households. The Alliance and IPC have embraced the tradition of strong extended family and community ties in Burkina Faso as an important resource on which an effective response to vulnerable children’s needs can be built.

Collaborating with a micro-finance organisation (Aquadev) and a micro-health insurance programme (STEP/BIT), the Alliance has developed an integrated programme to improve the socio-economic status of poor households affected by HIV and those caring for orphans. The programme is integrating micro-insurance and micro-credit with HIV activities in the community so that poor and affected families are able to access micro-credit. This creates revenue for households, enabling them to save and cover medical costs. In this way, they can improve household income and meet their basic needs.

What we have achieved

In 2005, IPC supported the government HIV/AIDS department to develop a toolkit for community-based service providers to help them support people living with HIV to better adhere to their treatment. It will become the national reference tool for adherence and is the first resource of this kind to be developed in Africa. IPC plays an important role in supporting the government to develop national HIV policies, such as the national framework for care and support to orphans and vulnerable children.

AAS carried out an external evaluation of its ‘Projet Orange’, the results of which were shared with national stakeholders during a workshop in October 2005. The success of the ‘Projet Orange’ highlights the added value of working with community-based organisations to increase access to anti-retroviral treatment. The project has been so successful that AAS received 300 additional treatments from other partners in 2005, including 80 from the Brazilian government.

Future plans

In 2006, IPC will be working to reduce the impact of stigma and discrimination on people living with HIV by holding a national forum and carrying out other advocacy activities. The Alliance will continue to provide technical support on prevention and care and support to people living with HIV and vulnerable young people and adults. We intend to continue to scale up policy and advocacy work at the national level. Together with IPC, we will be working to strengthen civil society in Burkina Faso. Our aim is to further raise the awareness of decision-makers about the importance of a community response and the added value of civil society in the response to the epidemic.