Thursday, May 26, 2022
5/26/2022
The Center for International Health, Education, and Biosecurity (CIHEB) of the University Maryland Baltimore (UMB), together with the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ), propose Community Impact to Reach Key and Underserved Individuals for Treatment and Support (CIRKUITS). The CIRKUITS project will partner with the Government of the Republic of Zambia and key population civil society to implement community-based combination HIV prevention, ensure all people living with HIV (PLHIV) know their status, are on treatment and achieve viral suppression, and move Zambia firmly toward epidemic control. The CIRKUITS platform integrates two highly successful community models of care to create one comprehensive differentiated-service delivery (DSD) platform for reaching key/ priority populations (KP/PP). CIRKUITS builds on the UMB Community HIV Epidemic Control (CHEC) model and CIDRZ Community and Urban Adherence Groups (C/UAGs). CIRKUITS brings unique innovation and value by tailoring services to the needs of each KP/PP and by harmonizing and strengthening community-facility linkages to end gaps in the HIV prevention-to-care continuum. At the heart of our approach is expanded and decentralized access to HIV testing services (HTS). For KP/PP found to be HIV-negative, CIRKUITS will offer a tailored, comprehensive HIV prevention package. For KP/PP newly identified as HIV-positive, the CIRKUITS approach will begin with intensive community health worker support to ensure linkage to care, ART initiation, and retention during the highly tenuous first 6 months after HIV diagnosis, followed by transition to client-selected peer group support and drug distribution in the community for long-term ART maintenance. Cross-cutting throughout CIRKUITS will be a focus on community HTS, differentiated service delivery, TB/HIV integration, increased access to VMMC, and mitigation of structural barriers such as stigma, gender-based violence (GBV) and the logistical and human resources constraints posed by prisons. To ensure project success and data-driven decision-making, the CIRKUITS consortium will leverage its M&E experience and technical expertise to rigorously monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of program interventions. CIRKUITS is uniquely positioned to implement this award—effectively and efficiently—based on our team’s excellent past performance in Zambia, exceptional technical expertise in KP/PP HIV programming, and established relationships with GRZ and KP/PP civil society. The pre-existing infrastructure and field personnel we have at the proposed sites will allow for significant value for money, as the staff, systems, internal controls, operational relationships, and financial resources necessary for CIRKUITS success are already in place. In bringing together two of the leading implementing partners in Zambia, CIRKUITS will create a consortium that has a proven track record for effectively partnering with the provinces, districts, and clinics identified in this proposal. UMB and CIDRZ are two of only a select few organizations in Zambia that have comprehensive expertise in advanced community initiatives, HIV/TB care and treatment, VMMC, and HIV/TB prevention, care, and treatment in prisons. By the end of the project, the CIRKUITS team envisions a new era of KP programming embedded within the Zambian national response—one that sustainably involves MOH and KP civil society to deliver KP/PP-valued and interlinking prevention, treatment, and care services in communities and facilities that reach all FSWs, MSM, TG, adolescents, migrants, AGYW, and young men, and solidifies Zambia’s progress toward achieving 90-90-90 targets.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
