The 24th Obstetrical & Gynecological Conference
More than one hundred doctors, including hospital managers of ART centers attended the 24th Obstetrical & Gynecological Conference. This conference was a joint activity involving SNAP, WHO, HAI, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, SHWAG, TOKTEN. The agenda of the conference included issues related to HIV/AIDS with a special focus on Preventing Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT). The meeting was an excellent opportunity to exchange experiences, reach a consensus & discuss Provider Initiated Testing and Counseling, medical ethics and stigma among health workers. It was also an opportunity to strengthen ownership of the hospitals & advocate for improving the working environment in the ART centers.

Main recommendations of the meeting were:
• Encourage the adherence to medical ethics and good medical practices among health care providers, which prohibit the health provider to deny services to PLWHIV.
• Improve the surveillance system.
• Strengthen the support of the hospitals to the Anti Retroviral Therapy & PMTCT centers.
• Adopt the Provider Initiated Testing and Counseling (PITC) as a major entry point to testing all ANC clients.
• Promote the testing among all the women in reproductive age even before getting pregnant.
• To advocate for ANC HIV testing in the private sector.

Advocacy Workshops on HIV/AIDS
The Director of religious affairs in Rehaid Elbirdee locality in South Darfur state initially refused discussing HIV/AIDS; however, after the Advocacy workshop by Rufaida Health Foundation, he agreed to talk about the risks of AIDS in the Friday prayer speech. In addition, he has accepted to be a listening partner when issues regarding prevention of HIV including condom usage are being discussed. Furthermore, the Executive Director ratified the recruitment of Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) counselor in Rehiad elbirdee hospital was an outcome of the same advocacy event.

Nawafil Elkhirat in Dabba Locality in Northern State conducted an advocacy workshop attended by the president of the Legislation Board. He and his assistants supported the idea of establishing laws that can benefit the AIDS program in Dabba locality.

Income Generation Activities for TB Patients in North Kordofan:
“When I was fully cured from TB, I tried to go back to work, only to find that I was dismissed; I decided to look for another job” said Abdel Rahman Hamida, a cured TB patient from North Kordofan state. In May 2011, at 45 years of age, Abdel Rahman Hamida was diagnosed with TB after visiting the doctor as he was suffering from persistent “cold with fever”. “I took antibiotics but there was no response” he told his doctor. Consequently, Abdel Rahman was sent to have a respiratory section, x-ray and sputum smear test. “I was told by the doctor that I had TB” he said. (Read more)

Tuberculosis
• Renovation of the National Reference Lab (NRL) for TB started in March 2012 and is about to be concluded
• Renovations for 5 Zonal reference labs is about to be launched
• The renovations of 2 Wards in Abu Anja Hospital for Multiple Drug Resistant (MDR) TB patients is about to be launched.

Most at Risk Populations Project
• As part of activities supporting local NGOs working with HIV/AIDS; JASMAR office contributed to establishing a Sudan AIDS Network in the White Nile state.
• The Sudanese Community Development Association trained three peer educators in Omdurman Locality, as well as enrolling three of Men who have Sex with Men and four Female Sex Workers in the Behavioral Change Communication activities offering them phone counseling service which has proven successful.

The Global Fund Programme Management Unit