Linking RH and HIV/AIDS: Good Practices in Kenya

Linking sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS policies and services presents many challenges for those on the front line of health care planning and delivery. A case study in Kenya of Family Health Options Kenya (FHOK) details a number of “lessons learned” in integration including:

• FHOK has demonstrated that providing antiretroviral therapy within sexual and reproductive health settings is plausible, possible and practical.
• Providing services for HIV/AIDS at sexual and reproductive health clinics attracts new clients and creates opportunities for promoting sexual and reproductive health to a wider population.
• In order to achieve their core aims, and to maximize the public health impact, sexual and reproductive health and HIV programmes should take specific steps to meet the needs and concerns of men as well as women in providing services.
• The best way to promote sexual and reproductive health among young people and to raise awareness of HIV is to make information and services available as part of a wider programme that addresses their social needs, and helps empower them to make healthy choices.
• By providing space for community groups to meet, or a base for their activities, clinics can strengthen the links with their client population to their mutual benefit.
  

Find out more about Kenya’s good practices here: http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/hiv/ippf_linkages_kenya.pdf

For more information on linkages between RH and HIV/AIDS policy and programming, a number of tools prepared by IPPF, UNFPA, UNAIDS and WHO offer guidance on how to link sexual and reproductive health with HIV/AIDS.

• Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS: A Framework for Priority Linkages, WHO, UNFPA, UNAIDS & IPPF, 2005.
• Linking Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS. An annotated inventory. WHO, UNFPA, UNAIDS & IPPF, 2005.
• Sexual and Reproductive Health of Women Living with HIV/AIDS, Guidelines on care, treatment and support for women living with HIV/AIDS and their children in resource constrained settings, UNFPA & WHO, 2006.
• Integrating HIV Voluntary Counselling and Testing Services into Reproductive Health Settings, Stepwise guidelines for programme planners, managers and service providers, UNFPA & IPPF, 2004.
  
• Meeting the Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs of People Living with HIV. Guttmacher Institute, UNAIDS, UNFPA, WHO, Engender Health, IPPF, ICW & GNP+, In Brief, 2006 Series, No. 6.
  
• Reproductive Choices and Family Planning for People Living with HIV – Counselling Tool, WHO, 2006.
  
• Rapid Assessment Tool for Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Linkages: A Generic Guide, ICW, GNP+, IPPF, UNAIDS, UNFPA, WHO, Young Positives, 2008.