The Coordination approach to HIV services for the Community of Lukuli
The parish of Lukuli and the surrounding catchment of Hope Clinic, includes many people who have not tested for HIV. They are also people with low incomes. To know their status may be understood as something they should test for - but fear of the result and the financial implications for themselves or their children stops them being tested.

Hope Clinic Lukuli broke that Barrier to Implementation of the National Strategy for HIV. Hope Clinic is the most integrated site for PEPFAR, Global Fund and private partnerships for HIV in Uganda. We know this because every PEPFAR funded activity in Uganda can or does pass to the community through Hope Clinic. We have coordinated PEPFAR funds and commodities to Global Fund malaria support, private company donations and international grant funders. We remain Not for Personal Profit but through partnerships our clients have free of charge access to:

  • Information, awareness, mobilisation and reducing stigma
  • Counselling, Prevention, Testing and Immediate Support
  • Counselling behaviour change to reduce risks
  • Care and Support, reducing opportunistic infections - nutrition help
  • Affordable malaria management (LLIN and ACT "Coartem")
  • Access to prompt lab testing and treatment of OIs
  • CD-4 monitoring and access to ARVs when required

In May 2008, Nation Television (NTV) dedicated its weekly health feature to the work of Hope Clinic. The report, by Leah Bwanika, included interviews with patients, coverage of the clinic and comment from the Director General of the Uganda Aids Commission Dr Apuuli. The report can be viewed here.[It is a 3MB Quicktime file and also works in Real Player but not Windows Media Player].

In June, Ambassador Mark Dybul, the Global Aids Coordinator will join international HIV Implementers at a conference in Kampala to review partnerships and successful collaborations in addressing HIV/AIDS. The conference theme is partnerships and overcoming obstructions to implementation. The feature shows how local coordination helps that.

Hope Clinic Lukuli wishes to share its experiences with HIV Implementers. Our request is that Prevention can best be promoted through assuring the audience that, if needed, Care and Support will be affordable and accessible. The General Practice structure of Hope Clinic should be adopted in other countries to re-assure those who want to Know Their Status that they can access the care and support. Our success with USAID fundsOur own NGO

Two of the six sub-themes of the conference in Kampala which will help enable Scaling-Up through Partnerships: Overcoming Obstacles to Implementation are:

  • Coordination and harmonisation, and
  • Linking people with resources.

The experience of this from the last eight years of Hope Clinic's growth is of great interest within Uganda. The clinic has been commended by many of the senior PEPFAR implementers as well as Government of Uganda officials. We are pleased to have representation at the conference and to share with others.

We remain Not for Personal Profit. We are sustainable in our approach by accessing the resources that exist. In Tony Blair's recent Inter-Faith Foundation meeting, he noted that many faith-based and non-faith CBO are already working at the grassroots level. Hope Clinic Lukuli agrees with his observation that the cheapest and most effective means of delivering information on behaviour change or health commodities is to use and expand existing community networks.

In the following pages we show what the management of Hope Clinic Lukuli has achieved to Break the Barriers. That barrier is to get large organisations to work with us - or even to hear our voice. Thank you for listening/ reading..

This next page has details of more than ten collaborations ongoing at Hope Clinic Lukuli PEPFAR Coordination.