Round Eight of Global Fund to integrate HIV and SRH

Accra, May 6, GNA - Dr. Henrietta Odoi-Agyarko, Reproductive Health Specialist, on Tuesday said linking HIV/AIDS and Sexual and Reproductive

Health (SRH) programmes as required by "Round Eight" proposal of the Global Fund will significantly curtail the AIDS epidemic. She said it would also address the unmet needs and rights of women and men living with the virus and sexually reproductive health services. Global Fund Round Eight recommends "dual track financing", which enables grants to be awarded to both government and civil society implementers.

Speaking at a day's Consultative meeting on "HIV/SRH in Global Fund Round 8 Proposal in Ghana", Dr Odoi-Agyarko said the integration would also help to capitalize on the new available resources for HIV/AIDS and the limited SRH services.

The meeting attended by representatives of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) formed part of a broader initiative to mobilize and sensitise them on the integration of SRH and HIV in the Global Fund Round Eight proposal development processes.

It was organized by Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR) with support from Society for Women against AIDS and GHANET. Dr Odoi-Agyarko said the integration had been necessary because a commitment had been made internationally to increase the availability of comprehensive SRH for men, women and young people globally and emphasis had been placed on the integration of services. It is also to provide clients with a holistic approach to their reproductive health needs. She noted that challenges such as lack of trained health professionals, separate funding streams for reproductive health and HIV, lack of political conviction to make SRH/HIV integration as a policy priority and reduction in donor funding for reproductive health and family planning would be encountered during the integration though it was the way forward.

Ms Vicky Okine, Executive Director of ARHR, said in the past two years, the Global Fund had passed made decisions that had created the enabling environment for countries to submit proposals that integrates SRH and HIV/AIDS.

These, she said, included gender decision point, health system strengthening, community system strengthening, participation of vulnerable groups in the Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs) and the dual track financing.

Ms Okine said there was the need for the proposal development in Ghana to integrate SRH and HIV with focus on the sexual reproductive behaviours of young people and adults as well as responding to their sexual and reproductive health needs. She said SRH services provided an entry point for HIV services and closer linkage between SRH and HIV/AIDS would deduce duplication of services, decrease administrative and overhead costs and enhance efficiency and effectiveness through the joint utilisation of scarce human and financial resources.