Handbook on Access to HIV/AIDS-Related Treatment : a Collection of Information, Tools and Resources for NGOs, CBOs and PLWHA Groups: Chapter 2: Foundations of treatment: 2.3 Working with others to improve access to treatment: 2.3.B Advocacy to improve access to treatment

Handbook on Access to HIV/AIDS-Related Treatment : a Collection of Information, Tools and Resources for NGOs, CBOs and PLWHA Groups
(2003; 130 pages) [French]

Table des matières

Preface
Acknowledgements
Acronyms
Introduction: Read this first!
	1. What is this handbook?
	2. Why was this handbook developed?
	3. How was this handbook developed?
	4. Who is this handbook for?
	5. How can this handbook be used?
	6. What is in the chapters of this handbook?
	7. What materials are needed to use this handbook?
	8. Who developed this handbook?
	9. Further sources of information
	Example of workshop schedule
Chapter 1: First questions to ask
	1.1 Care, support and treatment
		1.1.A Care and support
		1.1.B Treatment
	1.2 Linking treatment and prevention
	1.3 Access to treatment
		1.3.A Availability of treatment
		1.3.B Accessibility of treatment
	Information Sheet 1: Barriers to access to treatment
	Information Sheet 2: Factors affecting access to treatment
	1.4 Further sources of information
Chapter 2: Foundations of treatment
	2.1 The basic elements of treatment work
		2.1.A Supportive relationships for treatment work
		2.1.B Knowledge, skills and attitudes for treatment work
		2.1.C An ethical approach to treatment work
		2.1.D Information for treatment work
	2.2 How different treatments vary
	2.3 Working with others to improve access to treatment
		2.3.A Partnerships to improve access to treatment
		2.3.B Advocacy to improve access to treatment
	Treatment Information Sheet
	Treatment Assessment Sheet
	2.4 Further sources of information
Chapter 3: Putting treatment into practice
	3.1 Resources for HIV/AIDS-related treatment work
	3.2 Drugs for HIV/AIDS-related treatment
		3.2.A Managing HIV/AIDS-related drugs
		3.2.B The essential medicines concept
		3.2.C Guidelines for treatment
		3.2.D Choosing the right drugs
		3.2.E Drug names
		3.2.F Using drugs effectively
		3.2.G Fact sheet - antiretrovirals
	3.3 Sourcing and looking after good-quality drugs
		3.3.A Drug quality
		3.3.B Sources of drugs
		3.3.C Storing drugs
		3.3.D Keeping records and ordering drugs
	3.4 Providing drugs to people living with HIV/AIDS
		3.4.A Paying for HIV/AIDS-related treatment
		3.4.B Drug information
		3.4.C Dispensing drugs
		3.4.D Managing transport for HIV/AIDS-related treatment
	3.5 Training and management for treatment work
	3.6 Further sources of information
Chapter 4: Assessing needs and resources, and deciding what to do
	4.1 The assessment process
	4.2 Assessment frameworks
		4.2.A Assessing needs and resources - people living with HIV/AIDS and the community
		4.2.B Assessing needs and resources - the local environment
		4.2.C Assessing needs and resources - your NGO/CBO/PLWHA group
	4.3 Deciding what to do
		4.3.A Analysing your findings
		4.3.B Reaching a decision
		4.3.C Communicating your decision
	Information Sheet 3: Thinking creatively about what your group can do - treatment in context
	4.4 Further sources of information
Chapter 5: Learning from and improving HIV/AIDS-related treatment work
	5.1 Monitoring and evaluating HIV/AIDS-related treatment work
		5.1.A Keeping records of your work
		5.1.B Monitoring your work
		5.1.C Evaluating your work
	5.2 Changing and improving HIV/AIDS-related treatment work
		5.2.A Making the most of new resources and linkages
		5.2.B Coping with changes
		5.2.C Sharing your experiences with others
		5.2.D Scaling up, scaling down or staying the same
	5.3 Further sources of information
	Organizations that contributed to the development of this handbook
Back cover

2.3.B Advocacy to improve access to treatment

Advocacy is a process of working towards changes in attitudes, policies and practices. It is carried out by people proposing improvements on behalf of themselves or others, and involves activities to influence decision-making individuals and institutions.

Advocacy to improve access to HIV/AIDS-related treatment requires clear strategies to bring about change on several different levels, including community, national and global. Advocacy at one level can significantly impact the other levels.

Examples of advocacy by NGOs/CBOs for improving access to treatment at different levels include:

• Community level

- accompanying people living with HIV/AIDS to the hospital or clinic to ensure that they receive treatment;
- influencing local pharmacists to stock drugs that are needed for people living with HIV/AIDS;

• National level

- participating in the development of standard treatment guidelines for HIV/AIDS;
- influencing the government to improve the supply of HIV/AIDS-related drugs in hospitals and clinics;

• Global level

- lobbying international pharmaceutical companies to reduce the price of HIV/AIDS-related drugs;
- encouraging international drug suppliers to make HIV/AIDS-related drugs widely available at low cost.

Participatory group activity

Aim

To raise awareness about how advocacy at different levels could improve access to HIV/AIDS-related treatment.

Instructions

1. Explain the aim of the activity.
2. Present participants with a definition of advocacy (see previous page). Share an example of an advocacy strategy on access to treatment at each level - community, national and global.

3. Divide the participants into three groups and ask them to brainstorm about, and list, possible advocacy strategies. Ask:

Group 1 to focus on community-level advocacy
Group 2 to focus on national-level advocacy
Group 3 on global-level advocacy.

4. Bring everybody back together and ask the groups to present their results. Encourage the participants to ask each other questions and to make comments.
5. Facilitate a group discussion about what has been learned from the activity, based upon questions such as:

• How does advocacy on one level affect issues at another level?
• What types of resources are needed for advocacy strategies at different levels?
• What contributions can different types of organizations make to advocacy work?

Facilitators' notes

• Support participants to think creatively about advocacy strategies. Encourage them to think about what would really make a difference.
• Support participants to think realistically about advocacy strategies. Encourage them to think about what they can really achieve.

Example

At a skills-building workshop, NGO/CBO participants identified the following examples of advocacy strategies for improving access to treatment at community, national and global levels.

Community level	National level	Global level
• Advocate better collaboration between NGOs on access to HIV/AIDS-related treatment • Advocate more information about issues relating to treatment and access to HIV/AIDS- related treatment	• Advocate an improved supply of free drugs from the government • Advocate on international issues such as compulsory licensing and parallel importing of HIV/AIDS- related drugs	• Advocate more involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS in work on treatment issues • Advocate lower international prices for HIV/AIDS-related drugs

The facilitator then led a group discussion about what had been learned from the activity. For example, participants agreed that the involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS in advocacy on access to HIV/AIDS-related treatment was vital at all levels.

Reference: Adapted from a workshop on access to HIV-related treatment, India HIV/AIDS Alliance and the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, India, February 2001.