Clinical Advisor’s Commitment Leads to a More Than Threefold Increase in Patients Completing Tuberculosis Preventive Therapy (TPT)
“It’s valuable work; if Clinical Advisors ceased to exist, data would fall.”
Timóteo Makenda
Quelimane District HIV and STI Focal Point
In the first quarter of COP19, VUMC/FGH faced a 33% budget reduction, compared to the COP18 budget. As a result, the VUMC/FGH team was restructured, including a reduction in the provincial and district TB teams. As a consequence, during COP19, the VUMC/FGH TB program had only one TB/HIV Provincial Manager and two Regional TB/HIV Coordinators.
FGH Rapidly Expands 3-month ART Dispensation during the COVID-19 Pandemic
By the end of June 2020, 185,849 patients on combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) were receiving their medication refills on a quarterly basis, commonly referred to as three-month drug dispensation (3MDD). This number represents an impressive 76% of all patients currently receiving ART. This is more than a three-fold increase from the previous reporting period (54,282 patients at the end of COP19 Q2) - the largest proportional increase FGH supported health facilities have ever registered during any reporting period.
Mentor Mothers promote the birth of HIV-uninfected children in Quelimane.
“I am very happy because my daughter was born HIV free,” says Leocádia Adelino, a resident of Maquivale Sede Administrative Post, in Quelimane District, Zambézia Province, Mozambique.
Leocádia has lived with HIV since 2016. She has four children, ages 15, 13, 5, and almost 2. All of her children, including the youngest, are free of HIV.