New Approach to HIV Testing Reduces Stigma and Helps an Area of Rural Africa Become the First to Meet International Targets for HIV Testing

Landmark Campaign Reaches Rural Kenyans with Tools to Prevent Malaria, Diarrhoeal Disease and HIV Voluntary HIV Counselling and Testing Campaign Provides Affordable and Efficient Approach to Preventing Disease Identified

Kakamega, Kenya—An important new approach to fighting malaria, diarrhoeal disease and HIV among adult men and women aged 15-49 has successfully been demonstrated for the first time in the Western Kenyan district of Kakamega in the Lurambi division.

One of the unique features of the campaign, called the “Integrated Prevention Demonstration,” was that it provided adults an opportunity to learn their HIV status through community-based testing. Along with an HIV test, those participating were also provided a CarePack™ containing a PermaNet® bednet, a LifeStraw® water purifier, condoms and educational material for the prevention of malaria, diarrhoeal disease and HIV respectively. CarePack™ was provided to all regardless of whether they took an HIV test. Nearly 50,000 adults participated, covering nearly every adult and family in the area.

“The IPD campaign was a monumental achievement. Never before have people lined-up by the thousands to take a voluntary HIV test,” said Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, CEO of Vestergaard Frandsen and the developer of the IPD concept.

All services were provided free of charge at 30 community-based delivery sites open from September 16-22, 2008. By conducting an HIV test for more than 49,000 people, the campaign demonstrated that it is possible for Kenya to reach its national goal of having 80% of adults know their HIV status.

During the campaign, 18,000 men between ages 15-49 were tested for HIV; a previously hard to reach group for testing and counselling. The Kenyan Ministry of Health will provide this group with follow-up medical care. This marks a profound increase in the number and speed of HIV testing.

“For the first time, a campaign provided a lifesaving care package of multiple health interventions as encouragement for voluntary HIV counselling and testing. By offering a CarePack™ benefiting both HIV positives and negatives, we have enabled a significant majority of the population to know their HIV status ,while protecting them from three of the largest killers in Kenya:  malaria, diarrhoea and HIV,” added Mr. Vestergaard Frandsen. “Lessons learned from this campaign will contribute to Kenya’s national scale-up plan for HIV counselling and testing, and the Millennium Development Goals. The IPD campaign was designed to be replicated, and therefore holds the potential to reduce suffering and save lives far beyond the borders of Kenya.”

Partners for the IPD campaign include: Vestergaard Frandsen, Kenyan Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, and CHF International.  

For video and still images from the campaign, please contact Peter Cleary at pc@vestergaard-frandsen.com or (347) 653-5857.