New HIV data collection introduced

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Thursday 6th September, 2012

By: LEONNIE WAYANG-SEVUA
THE Intelligence, Monitoring and Evaluation branch of the National AIDS Council Secretariat has conducted training in Lae, Morobe, to introduce a new method of collecting data on HIV cases in the country.
The training was facilitated by branch manager Danny Karafa, monitoring and evaluation advisor Dr Nepali Sah and surveillance officer Marcel Burro. It started on Monday and ended on Tuesday.
Sah said tentative groups had to be sought so that efforts could be focused on them.
“Most of the data collected on HIV cases are from the provincial to local level governments but does not really include that of wards or households,” he said.
He said some of the problems highlighted during the training were difficulties in accessing information and the lack of funds and resources to conduct surveillance and obtain data.
The aim of the two-day training was to train members of the provincial monitoring and evaluation and surveillance teams in Morobe on the new input/output monitoring indicators for HIV prevention programmes as outlined under the National HIV-Aids Strategy 2011-2015.
The technical committee made up of provincial AIDS committees, technical officials from provincial health offices, provincial hospitals, faith-based and non-government organisation partners.
The training is aimed at partners who are tasked to coordinate HIV-Aids monitoring, evaluation and surveillance activities in the province and provide necessary reports to the secretariat, Department of Health, provincial administration, PACs and other implementing partners.
Karafa said after the training was conducted, they would be going out to collect data from sites that coordinated monitoring, evaluation and surveillance activities.
“We will be going out to our sites to follow-up on data involving key affected populations to help compile a surveillance report for 2011,” he said.