Tools and Guidelines

This tool for Monitoring human rights in contraceptive services and programmes contributes to the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) ongoing work on rights-based contraceptive programmes. This tool is intended for use by countries to assist them in strengthening their human rights efforts in contraceptive programming. The tool uses existing commonly-used indicators to highlight areas where human rights have been promoted, neglected or violated in contraceptive programming; gaps in programming and in data collection; and opportunities for action within the health sector and beyond, including opportunities for partnership initiatives.

This document provides answers to questions that have been received frequently from UN staff, their national counterparts, and the global reporting focal points. For more information on the Global AIDS Monitoring, please visit website (www.unaids.org/aidsreporting), or email us at aidsreporting@unaids.org.

The vision of the NACO is that of ‘Paving the way for an AIDS free India’ through ‘attaining universal coverage of HIV prevention, treatment to care continuum of services that are effective, inclusive, equitable and adapted to needs’. The goals remain those of the ‘Three Zeros’ - i.e. zero new infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero discrimination which form the basis of this strategic plan.

The NSP for HIV/STI, 2018-2022 has been developed with technical guidance provided by a National Steering Committee and financial support from the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM). During the process of development, inputs were taken from relevant stakeholders from DGHS, NSACP, officials from peripheral STD clinics, community based organizations (CBOs), nongovernment organizations (NGOs), networks of People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and representatives of key populations (KPs) through various meetings and discussion.

APCASO’s Strengthening CRG Concepts Tool is meant for civil society members of Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM), a multi-stakeholder governance structure composed of representatives from different stakeholders of the three diseases, such as government agencies, private sector groups, civil society organizations, communities affected by or living with the diseases, academics, and international and multilateral development institutions. The objective is to build capacity of community and civil society members on community engagement, human rights, and gender equality in relation to meaningful country dialogues, planning and budgeting, and program design in Concept Note submissions to the Global Fund for the three diseases (HIV, TB, and malaria).

Antiretroviral therapy using dolutegravir has several advantages over other regimens, including clinical superiority, improved side-effect profile, and reduced risk of viral resistance. This is the first time this regimen will be offered as an affordable, generic, fixed-dose combination, which will increase access for millions of people living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries. Below are a set of key messages and questions and answers to guide communications around the announcement and respond to media inquiries.

The Programme, currently in its third phase, is supported by a $16.7 million grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and will run until 2018. Led by Save the Children – Nepal (the Principle Recipient of the Grant), MSA promotes and protects the rights of key populations of MSM and transgender people and is building a foundation to ensure that regional and country-level community networks continue to be an essential partner in the HIV response. It focuses on strengthening community systems to improve coordination with local governments and health care providers, deliver concentrated and quality capacity development support, and provide technical assistance to ensure high intervention impact and sustainability.

This guideline has developed M & E framework for measuring the progress of NHSP indicators and link to result in chain framework, provide a road map for data sources, data collection, analysis and use of program implementation, information flow, and information products within the M & E system. This document will guide all relevant stakeholders on their M & E roles.

This implementation tool describes the recommended approaches for routine monitoring of toxicity integrated with the national monitoring and evaluation system and targeted approaches to monitoring toxicity to enable enhanced monitoring and reporting of treatment-limiting toxicity to support country implementation and generation of local data. In addition to recognizing the linkages, coinfected populations and commonalities across TB, hepatitis B and C and with the aim of encouraging integration, this tool also highlights the recommended toxicity monitoring approaches and existing tools across these disease areas.

This PrEP tool contains modules for a range of stakeholders to support them in the consideration, planning, introduction and implementation of oral PrEP. Following the WHO recommendation in September 2015 that “oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) should be offered as an additional prevention choice for people at substantial risk of HIV infection as part of combination HIV prevention approaches”, partners in countries expressed the need for practical advice on how to consider the introduction of PrEP and start implementation. In response, WHO has developed this series of modules to support the implementation of PrEP among a range of populations in different settings.  Summary of Modules Module 1: Clinical. This module is for clinicians, including physicians, nurses and clinical officers. It gives an overview of how to provide PrEP safely and effectively, including: screening for substantial risk of HIV; performing appropriate testing before initiating someone on PrEP and while the person is taking PrEP; and how to follow up PrEP users and offer counselling on issues such as adherence. Module 2: Community educators and advocates. For PrEP services to reach populations in an effective and acceptable way, community educators and advocates are needed to increase awareness about PrEP in their communities. This module provides up-to-date information on PrEP that should be considered in community-led activities that aim to increase knowledge about PrEP and generate demand and access. Module 3: Counsellors. This module is for staff who counsel people as they consider PrEP or start taking PrEP and support them in addressing issues around coping with side-effects and adherence strategies. Those who counsel PrEP users may be lay, peer or professional counsellors and healthcare workers, including nurses, clinical officers and doctors. Module 4: Leaders. This module aims to inform and update leaders and decision-makers about PrEP. It provides information on the benefits and limitations of PrEP so that they can consider how PrEP could be most effectively implemented in their own settings. It also contains a series of frequently asked questions about PrEP, with related answers. Module 5: Monitoring and evaluation. This module is for people responsible for monitoring PrEP programmes at the national and site levels. It provides information on how to monitor PrEP for safety and effectiveness, suggesting core and additional indicators for site-level, national and global reporting. Module 6: Pharmacists. This module is for pharmacists and people working in pharmacies under a pharmacist’s supervision. It provides information on the medicines used in PrEP, including the optimal storage conditions. It also gives suggestions for how pharmacists and pharmacy staff can monitor PrEP adherence and support PrEP users to take their medication regularly. Module 7: Regulatory officials. This module is for national authorities in charge of authorizing the manufacturing, importation, marketing and/or control of antiretroviral medicines used for HIV prevention. It provides information on the safety and efficacy of PrEP medicines.  Module 8: Site planning. This module is for people involved in organizing PrEP services at specific sites. It outlines the steps to be taken in planning a PrEP service and gives suggestions for personnel, infrastructure and commodities that could be considered when implementing PrEP.  Module 9: Strategic planning. As WHO recommends offering PrEP to people at substantial HIV risk, this module offers public health guidance for policy-makers on how to prioritize services, in order to reach those who could benefit most from PrEP, and in which settings PrEP services could be most cost-effective. Module 10: Testing providers. This module is for people who are responsible for providing testing services at PrEP sites and associated laboratories. It offers guidance in selecting relevant testing services, including appropriate screening of individuals before PrEP is initiated and monitoring while they are taking PrEP. Information is provided on testing for HIV, creatinine, hepatitis B and C virus, pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Module 11: PrEP users. This module provides information for people who are interested in taking PrEP to reduce their risk of acquiring HIV and people who are already taking PrEP – to support them in their choice and use of PrEP. This module gives ideas for countries and organizations implementing PrEP to help them develop their own tools. Module 12: This module is for people who are interested in providing PrEP services to older adolescents and young adults who are at substantial risk for HIV. It provides information on: factors that influence HIV susceptibility among young peopl;enical considerations for safety and continuation on PrEP; ways to improve access and service utilization; and inclusive monitoring approaches to improve the recording and reporting of data on young people. Module 13: This module is intended to complement the other modules in the WHO PrEP implementation tool. It focuses on the integration of STI services for people who may benefit from or use PrEP. The module is divided into two parts: the first focuses on programme managers and other decision-makers, and the second on health care workers. People who use PrEP will also benefit from the module.