Umndeni “Family” Care Program - The Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard


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Umndeni “Family” Care Program

Leadership:
South Africa – Brian Zanoni MD
US – Bisola Ojikutu MD MPH

Funding sources:
Gilead Foundation
ELMA Philanthropies
Massachusetts General Hospital

More than one million orphans of AIDS live in South Africa. Most are either homeless or live in crowded, poverty stricken households. Though they are at high risk of having HIV or acquiring the infection, few outreach programs address HIV related needs in this population. Issues such as elderly and ill caregivers, transportation to clinic sites, poverty and lack of awareness serve as significant barriers to accessing HIV related care as well as primary health care in this population.

The Umndeni “Family” Care Program (UCP) is an initiative designed to overcome these barriers and increase access to comprehensive HIV prevention, care, and treatment for families caring for children orphaned by AIDS living in Kwa Ximba, a rural region of KwaZulu Natal (KZN), South Africa. In collaboration with the Valley Trust, a local NGO, UCP has been able to:

		Increase the accessibility of HIV counseling, testing, and linkage to care to rural families who live far from current health care sites, including door-to-door HIV testing and in home care and treatment support.
		Train local doctors, nurses and caregivers in comprehensive HIV related care and treatment for both adults and children.
		Establish a family oriented, rurally based care and treatment site at the local, community clinic.
		Develop a core group of community health workers who provide outreach, counseling and support to families caring for orphans of AIDS and displaced children in the KwaXimba community .
		Enable grandmothers and other primary caregivers for large families to provide care children to young children living with HIV and to assist them with support from community health workers.

Since its inception in 2007, UCP has worked to engage the entire KwaXimba community in its programs. Initially, UCP worked with 72 families. Currently, over 200 homes have been engaged by UCP community health care workers and expansion is ongoing.

To date, through door-to-door HIV testing and public routine testing campaigns, approximately 1500 adults and children have been counseled and tested for HIV and linked to care and treatment if necessary. Over 500 health care workers have been trained in adult and pediatric HIV management. In January 2010, largely due to training and capacity building provided by Dr. Zanoni, a local HIV treatment site will open at the clinic in KwaXimba. UCP will be relocated at the clinic to be closer to the community which the program serves.

For more information, please contact the Umndeni Family Program here.

Additional info:
	Video: Bisola Ojikutu talks about the establishment and progress of the Umdeni Family Care Program [video]
	Video: When parents die of AIDS, the orphans often go to live with a "gogo," the Zulu word for grandmother. [video]
In the News:
The Social Epidemic - Battling HIV in sub-Saharan Africa Harvard Magazine article features the work of Brian Zanoni at the Umndeni Care Program.