The USAID Community PMTCT Project

In 2009, IntraHealth began a project that employs a community-based approach to expand the availability of high-quality maternal, pediatric, and HIV/AIDS care. In collaboration with partners, IntraHealth trains and supports community health workers to monitor and care for patients living with HIV. The project also builds on IntraHealth’s extensive experience in Ethiopia to:

• Better support and manage community-based PMTCT services through close collaboration with local and regional health offices and community-based organizations
• Make maternal and child health and PMTCT services more widely available by improving the capacity of community- and facility-based health workers to provide quality care
• Improve the coordination and referral network between and among service providers in communities and at health posts, health centers, and hospitals
• Reach out to communities to encourage people to use maternal, pediatric, and PMTCT services

IntraHealth’s programs also examine how women’s health care decisions are affected by stigma and discrimination based on HIV status, and tailor counseling to address these concerns. IntraHealth supports health care interventions that are designed and managed locally and that build on best practices and local evidence. To establish sustainable services, IntraHealth seeks to bolster the existing health care infrastructure and encourage community input and involvement.

Contact: Patricia McLaughlin, Project Director
(+251) 116.622.180/1/2/3
IntraHealth International, Ethiopia Office
P.O. Box 9658
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia