Care and Support

NFWLHA implemented the Care and Support program from January 2023 till December 2023 in Year 3.This program covers two districts (as shown in Figure 1) Kawasoti, Nawalparsai-East which lies in province no.4 and Parasi, Nawalparasi-West which is located in province no.5. The program is further conducted by Lumbini Plus, our program implementing Community Based Organization (CBOs). The overall monitoring and communication part is done by the NFWLHA team. Moreover, different components are included in this program with an aim to benefit the PLHIVs (the service users).

MAJOR ACTIVITIES:

i. Community Care Center (CCC)
Community care center is a place where PLHIV who are either in their initial phase of treatment requiring additional care are admitted or any PLHIV who are in need to be cared for by trained staff because of any additional disease they acquire. These clients admitted in CCC are given
proper care and support by providing nutritious food by the caretaker. The clients in CCC are mainly enrolled during the stage of ART initiation as well as for refill and are often referred from ART sites.

ii. Community Home Based Care (CHBC)

Individuals who have been diagnosed HIV positive are enrolled in CHBC service. They are referred to the program by various sites such as HIV testing and counseling (HTC) site, PMTCT service, NGOs, TB service, hospitals, and in some cases the client comes in themselves after
knowing their HIV status. Right after the new clients are enrolled the process of registration begins in which the details of client’s information are recorded and a new file is prepared with a unique code number which is given to each client.

iii. Community Led Testing (CLT)

During CLT listing of index partners on ART client/PLHIV is done. Moreover, HIV tests are also provided with CLT. If a case is known to be reactive it is then referred to the HTC (HIV Testing and Counseling) site for confirmation. If we get a confirmed case those clients are then
enrolled in ART and further linked to CHBC/CCC.

iv. CABA Cash Transfer

The care and support program not only focus on providing services to PLHIV but also works for CABA and CLHIV by enrolling them in a cash transfer program. For the cash transfer program only, children living with HIV who are below the age of 18 years are eligible. The details of eligible children are listed in order to enroll them in the program. They are provided with Rs. 1000/- per month which is transferred in their parent’s or guardian’s
bank account to support their health, nutrition, and education. This program is regularly monitored by the CHBC team.

v. Viral Load Testing