THE HAREG PROJECT

The Hareg Project is a joint partnership with the Ministry of Health, HAPCO, USAID and The Center for Disease Control and is being funded as part of PMTCT Presidential Initiative from the United States Government. It brings together a large and diverse consortium of partners including IntraHealth International/PRIME II I-TECH, Rational Pharmaceutical Management Plus, part of Management Sciences for Health, The LINKAGES Project (AED), JHPIEGO, Johns Hopkins University's Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP) and UNICEF, who are all committed to fighting the global AIDS pandemic.

In Ethiopia, the greatest threat of HIV/AIDS for a child is from their parents.  Over 90 percent of the HIV/AIDS infections in children are transmitted during pregnancy delivery and breastfeeding. According to the Ethiopian Ministry of Health estimates that 200,000 children are infected with HIV/AIDS.  Through a combination of improving care and drug treatment and building the healthcare delivery capacity, this effort is expected to reach up to one million women annually and reduce mother to child transmission by 40% within 5 years or less in twelve African countries and the Caribbean.  The Hareg Project in Ethiopia focuses on treatment and care for HIV-infected pregnant women to reduce transmission of HIV to infants focusing in two areas:  (1) increasing the availability of preventive care, including drug treatments and (2) building healthcare delivery systems to reach as many women as possible with the care they need. 

Initially, the Hareg project will span across 8 regions.  This includes 23 new catchment areas and strengthening of 4 existing UNICEF sites.  Specifically, this includes:

#	Name of Facility	Location
1	Adama Health Center	Oromia National Regional State
2	Adama Hospital	Oromia National Regional State
3	Addis Ketema Health Center	Addis Ababa
4	Adet Health Center	Amhara National Regional State
5	Armed Forces General Hospital	Federal, Addis Ababa
6	Assosa Health Center	Benshangul Gumuz National Regional State
7	Assosa Hospital	Assosa, Benshangul Gumuz National Regional State
8	Axum Health Center	Tigray National Regional State
9	Axum Hospital	Axum, Tigray National Regional State
10	BahirDar Hospital	BahirDar, Amhara National Regional State
11	Bambasi Health Center	Benshangul Gumuz National Regional State
12	Bella Defense Referral Hospital	Addis Ababa
13	Black Lion Hospital	Federal, Addis Ababa
14	Ethiopian Air Force Hospital	Adama, Oromia National Regional State
15	Higher 17 Health Center	Addis Ababa
16	Jijiga Health Center	Somali Region, Jijiga
17	Jijiga Hospital	Somali Region, Jijiga
18	Lideta Health Center	Addis Ababa
19	Modjo Health Center	Oromia National Regional State
20	Teklehaimanot Health Center	Addis Ababa
21	Woreta Health Center	Amhara National Regional State
22	Wukro Marai Clinic	Tigray National Regional State
23	Zewditu Memorial Hospital	Addis Ababa

The four MOH/UNICEF sites that already exist and will be strengthened include:

Oromia region, Jimma Hospital and HC's;

Dire Dawa, Dire Dawa Hospital and HC's;

Amhara region, Gondar Hospital and HC's

SNNPR region, Dilla Hospital and HC's

Additional expansion areas will rapidly include:

SNNPR region, Arbaminch and HC's;

Afar region, Dubti and HC's;

Harari region, Hiwot Fana and HC's

On September 8, 2003, we together launched The Hareg Project.  More than one hundred health care providers and officials at the national and regional levels, media, stakeholders, donors and collaborating agencies gathered in support of the PMTCT Initiative.  During the months of October-February, the Hareg project has been focusing on PMTCT readiness.  By jointly participating every step of the way, the Hareg Project has completed baseline assessments for facilities and communities, facilitated regional memorandum of understanding (MOU) amongst regional stakeholders; identified client flow solutions to ensure that women and men are provided services that are confidential and of good quality; trained over 90 providers in PMTCT and VCT; oriented 41 regional stakeholders in Health management information systems and monitoring and evaluation; and distributed PMTCT supplies and equipments to sites.

All these successes are evidences for the successful closure of the preparatory phase and it is time to celebrate all our achievements together - and initiate services for women and infants together.