Through a new award from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), IntraHealth International will lead the Advancing HIV & AIDS Epidemic Control Activity in South Sudan. This contract will build on IntraHealth’s 15-year history of partnership in South Sudan as we work with the government and local partners to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the country’s efforts toward HIV epidemic control.

The four-year Advancing HIV & AIDS Epidemic Control Activity will focus on operationalizing pathways to epidemic control using global 90-90-90 targets for 2020 and 95-95-95 targets for 2030. It will do this by identifying HIV-positive clients (especially those who do not know their status), providing them with life-saving antiretroviral therapy, supporting continuity in their treatment, and supporting adherence for clients whose treatment has been interrupted, in an effort to ensure HIV viral suppression to reduce AIDS-related deaths and further transmission of the virus.

Through a layered approach with local organizations and President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) implementing partners, the South Sudanese government, and local communities, the Advancing HIV & AIDS Epidemic Control Activity will build local capacity and resilience and adapt evidence-based HIV prevention, care, and treatment interventions for people living with HIV. Over the course of the project, more responsibility and ownership of this work will transition to our local partners.

As a longstanding partner of PEPFAR in South Sudan, IntraHealth has partnered with the government and other stakeholders to prevent and treat HIV by implementing 13 programs since 2006.

“IntraHealth was the first organization in South Sudan—the youngest nation in the world—to receive PEPFAR funding,” says Anne Kinuthia, Advancing HIV & AIDS Epidemic Control Activity’s chief of party. “We’ve always worked closely with the government and have a great relationship with them. Through this new work, we’ll be preparing our local partners to receive prime funding for PEPFAR-funded HIV/AIDS programs in the future.”

South Sudan’s HIV epidemic is concentrated among certain groups that face barriers to health care and higher risks of infection, especially female sex workers, orphans, and vulnerable children. IntraHealth and our partners use data-driven strategies and creative approaches to identify and reach these key and priority populations including hard to reach sub-populations that include men, adolescents, and young women.

“We are so excited to continue working with local partners and health workers in South Sudan,” says Polly Dunford, IntraHealth president and CEO. “This is an opportunity for us to continue to champion health workers as they address HIV in the midst of a pandemic, and to continue working toward our goal of preparing more of our local partners to serve as prime partners for USAID and PEPFAR.”

The Advancing HIV & AIDS Epidemic Control Activity in South Sudan is funded by the US Agency for International Development.