Program Title: Health systems strengthening using quality improvement approaches

Recipient: 20 000+ PartnershipCooperative agreement number: U2G/PS001081-05Budget period: April 2008 \ue2\u20ac\u201c June 2015In 2008 the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) responded to a competitive call for proposals by the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to address the unacceptably high rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in South Africa. This was seen to be a key component of the overall response to the HIV pandemic in South Africa. The 20 000+ partnership comprising of the UKZN, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health (KZN DOH) and the Institute for Health Care Improvement (IHI) was awarded a 5 year grant by the CDC to improve the performance of the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) Program in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. As part of this partnership, UKZN entered a Cooperative Agreement (Co-Ag) with CDC.By the end of 2013 the project had implemented quality improvement (QI) approaches in the project area which contributed to a dramatic decrease in mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The Co-Ag was extended by a no-cost extension to 2015 and included work to consolidate the gains made, build capacity in the district and provincial structures around the QI approaches for health systems strengthening. Following discussions with the national Department of Health (NDOH)the project was broadened in 2012 to providing Community Health Workers (CHW\ue2\u20ac\u2122s) with support and supervision in the context of maternal and child health care.The purpose of the grant was to provide financial and programmatic assistance to South African universities that were working on HIV and AIDS prevention, care and treatment programs. A particular focus of the award was to support the U.S. and South African Government in the expansion and strengthening of HIV and AIDS-related activities under the President\ue2\u20ac\u2122s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in South Africa. The activities implemented were aligned with the South African National Department of Health\ue2\u20ac\u2122s (NDOH) national priorities and required a focus on health systems strengthening to improve health outcomes. At the time, NDoH sought to increase access and quality of the PMTCT program \ue2\u20ac\u201c and within the focus of UKZN Department of Pediatrics an increasing concern regarding the vertical transmission of HIV to infants drove much of the project objectives.In consultation with the CDC, NDOH and the project a further component was added to the project as an amendment to explore the function of community health care workers in a more focused maternal and child health intervention.This cooperative agreement is funded by CDC under PEPFAR.CDC-1_CDC Closeout report V4 28 Sept 2015.pdfU2G/PS001081-0