Accelerating Progress in Communities (APC 2.0) in Botswana

Accelerating Progress in Communities (APC 2.0) in Botswana

Accelerating Progress in Communities (APC 2.0) in Botswana works with people living with HIV to increase access to care and treatment services as close to their homes, schools and workplaces as possible. APC 2.0 helps to ensure that patients remain in long-term care and treatment with the support of their families, peers and existing community health systems.

The project continues the work of Advancing Partners and Communities (APC) in Botswana and uses the earlier project’s community health worker model to:

• Locate people living with HIV who are not enrolled in a care and treatment program
• Locate previously enrolled patients who have difficulty taking medication
• Ensure that people living with HIV stay in care and are healthy
• Address harmful gender norms and practices that expose or pose barriers to use of HIV services

New activities include:

• Using an interactive mHealth platform to support client treatment adherence and retention
• Integrating noncommunicable diseases screening and diagnosis, such as hypertension and diabetes, into facility-based HIV testing services
• Working closely with the farmers’ associations and Kuru Health in the rural Ghanzi district to enhance activities, such as conducting joint trainings with community and facility staff on tuberculosis management
• Providing tuberculosis treatment in public and private facilities, especially in rural communities

APC 2.0 is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and partners with Botswana Christian AIDS Intervention Program, the Botswana Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Support Centre, Humana People to People, Kuru Health and Tebelopele.