Abstract Book Vol. 2 [International Conference on AIDS (14th: 2002: Barcelona, Spain)]

XIV International AIDS Conference

Abstracts WePeF6837-WePeF6841 289

WePeF6837 Who's afraid of colposcopy? Peers confront
women's fears
E. Sanchez-Jenkins1, M. Santiago2, J. Carter3, K. Kelsey4, D. Haggerty 5,
A. Waleed6. 1 University of Southern California Medical Center, 1205 E 9th St.,
#K55, Uplan, CA 91786, United States; 2The Core Center, Cook County
Hospital, Chicago, IL, United States; 'State University of New York Health
Science Center, Brooklyn, NY, United States; 4Georgetown University Medical
Center, Washington, D.C., United States; 5University of California San Francisco,
San Francisco, CA, United States; 6 Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY,
United States
Issues: Many women in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), the largest
US multi-site longitudinal study of HIV disease in women, are afraid to have a
colposcopy. Based on their personal experiences, the WIHS National Community Advisory Board, (NCAB) felt that women's fears kept them from having a
colposcopy even if they needed one.
Description: The NCAB, comprised of one to three participants from each of
the six WIHS sites, worked with the WIHS Colposcopy Working Group to discuss
various ways to alleviate women's fears including: 1.) articles in newsletters; 2.)
the creation of a brochure about colposcopy; 3.) the creation of a videotape for
participants featuring women talking about their experiences with colposcopy; 4.)
a buddy system for women who want to talk to someone about their experiences
with colposcopy; 5.) more provider sensitivity to women's fears.
Lessons Learned: The NCAB felt strongly that providing women with more information about colposcopy may lead to better compliance rates. Working in collaboration with investigators, the NCAB provided valuable input and concrete recommendations for helping other women better understand and feel more comfortable
with the colposcopy procedure.
Recommendation: Ongoing collaboration between investigators and community
advisory boards is integral in shaping and carrying out the research agenda.
Presenting author: Elisa Sanchez-Jenkins, 1205 E. 9th St., #K55, Uplan, CA
91786, United States, Tel.: [phone], Fax: [phone], E-mail:
akim007 @ speakeasynet
JWePeF6838 Training frontline social workers in Ukraine:
Towards a model of peer and professional
collaboration
A. Byrne1, S. McGill1, 0. Davidson1, N. Lukyanova2, N. Podlesnaya2. 1 Camden
and Islington Mental Health NHS Trust, Psychology Department, Mortimer
Market, Capper Street, London EC1V OEP, United Kingdom; 2Substance Abuse
and AIDS Prevention Foundation, Kyiv, Ukraine
Issues: With 1% of the national adult population infected, Ukraine has the highest
HIV prevalence rate in the Eastern European region. Transmission is still primarily associated with intravenous drug use, though sexual transmission is increasing. Psychosocial support and prevention efforts are primarily provided by nongovernmental organisations (NGOs). This project aims to improve service provision in prevention and psychosocial support to those affected by HIV by training
potential counsellors and trainers from NGOs throughout Ukraine. Those trained
will work alongside established professional groups in setting up self help groups
and the provision of peer support and education.
Description: Training packages were developed in consultation between UK and
Ukrainian partners, focusing on counselling skills, supervision and training others.
Forty participants, 70% of whom are people living with HIV, attended two training
modules. Participants developed individual projects to be implemenetd between
the training modules. Supervision and consultation were provided by the training
organisation.
Lessons learned: Models and materials used in training must be adapted to the
local context through close collaboration between in-country and external organisations. Training peer workers and HIV professionals together provided valuable
opportunities for these groups to learn from each other and benefit from on-going
training. It is critical to build in on-going supervision and support for volunteers
working in thie field to enhance quality, effectiveness and sustainability of service
delivery.
Recommendations: This project supports the feasibility of collaborative working
between HIV professionals and peer workers. It is recommended that this model
be further developed and adapted in training programs.
Presenting author: Angela Byrne, Psychology Department, Mortimer Market,
Capper Street, London EC1V 0EP, United Kingdom, Tel.: [phone], Fax:
[phone], E-mail: abyrne8391 @aol.com
WePeF6839 Towards finding strategies to support, train and
empower hiv positive women in central america
and the caribbean
C. Tarradas1, S. Boscia1, P. Perez2. 1The international Community of Women

Living with HIV/Aids, icw - leroy house, 436 essex road, london, n 1 3qp, United
Kingdom; 2 The International Community of Women Living with HIV/Aids,
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Issues: The incidence of HIV infection in Central America and The Caribbean is
second to the to the rate of infection found in Sub-Sahara Africa.
HIV+ women in Central America have less earning power and lower level of literacy compared to men. This results in a limited access to testing, HIV care,

treatment,i nformation and funding. These gender discrepancies are generally
overlooked because of the often-misleading data resulting from the limited and
often unavailable access that women have to testing
Description: The Project Voces Positivas is based on the success achieved by
the ICW African Project "From Hope to Power",run by HIV+ women, that is currently ongoing since 1999.
The aims of the Central American Project is to strengthen the network of HIV+
women in their communities, countries, and regions by way of two main workshops where overall about 40 women will be involved. The workshops will be
focusing on issues such as:
- Self-help groups: how to set-up them, how to use them to create a network of
support.
- Maternity Issues: Prevention of mother to child transmission, breastfeeding, disclosure and care, and bereavement
- Survival Techniques such as nutrition, treatment of opportunistic infections, spiritual nurturing
Lessons learned: This abstract as an English/Spanish poster will document the
issues that have emerged throughout the workshops and the strategies identified and adopted by the participants to replicate to their respective communities,
where sometimes there is an average of illiteracy of 60% among the general population, the knowledge and skills gained during the training.
Recommendations: Along with the posters we will present a documentation by
means of photographs and statements of the participants and co-ordinators, that
will give a clear picture of the stages of planning and developing a project, that
based on the experience of the African, will have a dramatic impact on HIV positive women and their communities.
Presenting author: stefania boscia, icw - leroy house, 436 essex road, london,
nl 3qp, United Kingdom, Tel.: [phone], Fax: [phone], E-mail:
[email protected]
WePeF6840 Empowering a cadre of community volunteers to
effectively address HIV/AIDS in Zambian
communities
S. Mutonyi1, A. Mlewa1, R. Mwilu2. 1Zambia Integrated Health Programme,
Zambia Integrated Health Project, PO Box 33796, Lusaka, Zambia;
2International HIV/AIDS Alliance Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
Issues: With national HIV prevalence at 20%, Zambian communities are highly
affected by the epidemic. There is an urgent need to scale up the response to
HIV/AIDS at community level and draw on and support the potential of communities to take more effective collective action to meet prevention and care needs.
Description: In 2001 the Zambia Integrated Health Programme initiated the development of a training curriculum for an HIV/AIDS specific cadre of community
volunteers which shifted the previous focus on 'awareness raising' to a focus on
community mobilisation, behaviour change communication, gender & sexuality,
advocacy, and referral. The curriculum has been field tested in 3 sites and modifications made based on feedback and a more in-depth technical review.
Lessons Learned:
- Close attention to the profile, context and needs of the users and the target
audience is critical in the development of materials to support community volunteers.
- The curriculum is designed to empower community level volunteers by providing them with appropriate knowledge and skills to be effective 'change agents' on
HIV/AIDS at community level
Recommendations: In the context of considerable need this curriculum would
have greater impact if it were adopted as a national level curriculum for a government linked cadre of community volunteers across all 72 districts in Zambia
Presenting author: Simon Mutonyi, Zambia Integrated Health Project, PO Box
33796, Lusaka, Zambia, Tel.: [phone], Fax: [phone], E-mail: simonm @ zihp.org.zm
WePeF6841 Establishing a street & community based HIV care
& support project using PCA for homeless
populations in Delhi slum
S. Sinqh. Sharan, New Delhi, India
Issue: The geographical location chosen for the Participatory Community Assessment and implementing care and support project is located in the Yamuna
Bazar area, Old Delhi. Sharan has established STIs and HIV intervention for IDUs
and their sexual partners in the locality. The existing situation of HIV is alarming
as 44.5% seroprevalence found in a study, conducted by Sharan in 1999, and 51
people were tested positive in a total of 60 referrals made in the last six months.
The PCA discovered that there exists a practice of multiple sexual partners for
men, women and the sexual abuse of children by older men within the highly visible homeless people. The low levels of HIV awareness and unsafe sexual and
drug using behaviour place this community at high risk of HIV.

Description: This program was started in 2001 supported by the India HIV/AIDS
Alliance MAMTA primarily aiming at providing community based care and support. This street delivery service provision includes outreach, drug & HIV related counseling, community meetings, personal hygiene, nutrition, tuberculosis
& STDs management, referrals and networking with NGOs/GOs/CBOs.
Lesson learned: Sharan provides multiple means for behavior changes through
a wider range of services at community level with the help of a trained team