Community health
Improving health systems cannot be effective without strengthening community systems. They have a specific and adapted role and responsibility to identify, understand and meet the needs of marginalized and vulnerable people who in general find it difficult to access basic health and social services.
Local and international NGOs represent more than 60% of the projects funded by Channel Projects. Since its inception in 2011, the 5% Initiative has been a strong supporter of community stakeholders.
In the past, we encouraged the participation of key populations in the design, implementation, monitoring and governance of Global Fund grants in several of our calls for projects. However, improving participation also includes community networks that key populations can turn to, as well as people in their community and peer educators. These organizational networks play an essential role in testing, prevention and monitoring of stigmatized groups, such as men who have sex with men, sex workers, adolescents and young people, or drug users.
The concept of community health is an approach/method that is part of health promotion. Community health also implies the involvement of front-line workers - communities and stakeholders involved in local healthin identifying and building lasting solutions to their own health issues.
Achieving the UNAIDS 90–90–90, eradicating malaria and reducing the significant impact of HIV/TB on maternal and child mortality (targets 3.1 and 3.2 of the SDGs) can only be achieved with additional qualified health staff.
Governance
providing advice, recommendations, diagnoses and support to draft documents and strategic plans...
Access to funding
Helping to revise strategic framework, helping to draft concept note...
Care
Carrying out an assessment of harme reduction services and the vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, strengthening access to voluntary HIV testing, helping to developing training modules...
Management capacities
financial and programmatic management and strategic monitoring...
Concerned with the quality of health care and fighting discrimination, HIV/AIDS organizations in West and Central Africa have developed a citizen dynamic to actively monitor and receive feedback information on access to care and rights by creating observatories.
Through a participative approach, these independent and community-based mechanisms help patients have their voices heard and contribute to improving care. Dysfunctions can bring about difficulties in accessing care and uneven quality of service delivery, in a context of stigmatization that can lead to human rights violations.
THE ROLE OF HEALTH OBSERVATORIES
The following are observatories’ main objectives:
- Providing alternative reliable information on the state of health care in the country
- Identifying the main barriers to access to health care and treatment, or access to rights
- Questioning public authorities where things are not working properly
- Identifying solutions to put in place
- Improving conditions of access to health care or reducing discrimination to encourage effective advocacy
- Promoting patients’ ownership and empowerment: have them manage themselves the health care provided to them so that they can react to violations of their rights
- Find out more with the brochure "Community health at the heart of the 5% Initiative's actions "