Designup

Category: Other

  • Tracking global HIV/AIDs initiatives and their impact on health systems: effects on the roles of civil society organisations in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia

    The aim of the study is to explore the effects of Global Fund HIV programmes on the roles of civil society organisations (CSOs) in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. The study represents a follow-up to the Global HIV/AIDS Initiatives Network (GHIN) studies that examined the effects of Global HIV/AIDS initiatives on country health systems. Specifically the study will assess the effects of Global Fund programmes on the focus, aims and roles of CSOs; seek to understand how Global Fund HIV programmes have influenced the relationships between CSOs and government; and build an understanding of the effects of Global Fund HIV programmes on relationships between CSOs. The study will primarily be based on semi-structured interviews with country stakeholders and CSOs. Duration: January-July 2010.

    Country studies are supported by the Open Society Institute. Network Funders are DFID, Irish Aid and Danida.

    In Georgia the study with be implemented by Ketevan Chkhatarashvili and Natia Rukhadze from Curatio International Foundation.

    The country researchers will provide inputs into the development of the Research Protocol (methodology) at other appropriate stages in the study including: design of interview tools, sampling strategy, identification of appropriate secondary data sources and relevant literature plus conducting the fieldwork.

    As a result of the study articles in peer reviewed publications will be posted.

  • Statement for the Media-The Study on Injected Drug Users Completed

    Only 1/4 of Intravenous Drug Users are getting tested for HIV, putting their wife’s and girlfriends and the rest of the Georgian population at risk for a widening epidemic

    Curatio International Foundation, a Georgian think tank, says “motivating IDUS to get tested is the key to prevention.”

    According to a recent study by Curatio International Foundation and Public Union Bemoni, the Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) can put their regular sex partners at risk of HIV infection by having unprotected sex with them.

    The study, which was conducted in 2009 in five different locations in Georgia (Tbilisi, Batumi, Zugdidi, Telavi and Gori) found that only 25% of intravenous drug users have been ever tested for HIV through their lifetime -even though the testing is free and available in their communities.

    The IDUs especially in Tbilisi are well educated and half are married. The majority of them started drug injection in their late teens. The most frequently injected drug by Tbilisi IDUs is subutex, while Batumi IDUs favor heroin.

    The IDUs are quite knowledgeable on HIV transmission routes, however they still commit behaviors that pose risk to their sexual or needle partners.

    About half of married IDUs have occasional sex partners and every second of them did not use condoms with such partners. This is particularly unconscionable because in most of cases IDUs do not use condoms with their wives, girlfriends.

    Highest HIV rates and risky behavior were found among Batumi IDUs compared to other cities.

    “Low uptake of testing services indicates that a large proportion of IDUs is unaware of their HIV status, which leads to high risk behaviors,” says Ketevan Goguadze, project manager, “Motivating IDUs to get tested is the most effective way to prevent spread this infection.”

    The study was undertaken in 2009 under the Global Fund supported project implemented by Curatio International Foundation, a local think tank working on the health care issues, and its partner organizations.

  • Put Final Touches on the Training in Policy and Political Cycle

    Advent of the far reaching reforms era in Georgia surged a great demand in cross-sectoral collaboration between the government, civil society and the media to ensure production of high quality evidence and increased demand for evidence informed public policy formulation.

    As a continuous effort to improving capacities of NGOs on providing evidence in policy making process, Curatio International Foundation organized the gathering of 20 executives from leading local non-governmental organizations on Bazaleti, Georgia.The meeting became possible in the framework of the “Strengthening Civil Society Capacity to Promote Research Evidence for Policy Development in Georgia” project aiming at building the skills of civil society organizations on improved provision of the evidence in policy making process. The project is implemented by the Curatio International Foundation with the financial support of Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (AHPSR) and Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF).

    It is said that to influence policy one needs to know how it is developed.

    Therefore training course in Policy and Political Cycle has been designed to enhance capacity of participants in terms of employing evidence to engage effectively in policy making process. The main emphasis is placed on the understanding of agenda setting and policy formulation stages of the public policy formulation process.

    The training module consists of the two following parts:The first part of the training that held in the mid summer provided training participants more theoretical knowledge in evidence informed public policy formulation; the role of the Media in advocating the policy issue; public policy and budget cycle and formal framework of decision-making. The trainings were provided through employing highly qualified experts.

    While “fall” gathering -second part of the training further extended the topics related to health policy making in a more interactive mode. Group discussions and team presentations facilitated during this session provided a unique opportunity to participants to demonstrate that they are ready to apply gained knowledge in practice and have developed more specific skills to identify windows of opportunities to present evidence “just in time” and explain its policy implications that will allow them to be more effective participants in the policy process. Specifically:

    The second part was dedicated to a) presenting results of the baseline survey findings to discuss whether the partner NGO coalitions have sufficient skills, knowledge and social network to influence the policy in Georgia; 2 ) making presentation on one of the critical health sector reforms in Georgia – “Hospital Sector Reforms; 3) facilitating group discussions to understand and compare policy making in different political environments (e.g. Dictatorship—Chile; Electoral Democracies: Mexico & Columbia; Democratic regimes – the USA; and in Georgia), 4) agreeing on future interventions, which could lead to improving NGO coalitions capacity in producing and employing high quality evidence in policy making.

    In the framework of the project, two distinct networks of NGOs are gathered. At the ending part of the session alliance members shared their views and opinions on the health sector related topics that are of utmost importance and call for prompt civil society response.

    The organizations engaged in the course are:

    Georgian Young Lawyer’s Association (GYLA), Transparency International Georgia, Open Society Georgia Foundation (Soros Foundation national chapter), Association of Young Economists of Georgia (AYEG), Economic Policy Research Centre, Georgian Association for Mental Health (GAMH), Mental Health Coalition, Scientific Research Institute of Psychiatry, UK-Georgia Professional Network, Georgian Association for Psychosocial Aid “Ndoba”, Association of People in Need of Special Care (APNSC).

  • Behavior Surveillance Survey among CSWs Covers Batumi and Tbilisi

    Curatio International Foundation together with Infectious Diseases, AIDS and Clinical Immunology Research Center and Association Tanadgoma carried out Behavior Surveillance Survey with biomarker component among CSWs.

    The survey targeted the capital Tbilisi and regional city Batumi, sampling 280 individuals. The study was conducted using TLS methodology and went through face-to-face interviews followed by blood testing.

    The activity was carried out in the framework of the Global Fund project “Establishment of evidence-base for national HIV/AIDS program by strengthening the HIV/AIDS surveillance system in the country”. Study results will be available in the late fall.

    In the framework of the same project the sentinel surveillance among STI patients and Behavior Surveillance Surveys with biomarker component among STI patients and Behavior Surveillance Surveys with biomarker component among Intravenous Drug Users (IDUs),and prisoners have been carried out.

  • Sentinel Surveillance Method to Provide Reliable HIV/AIDS Statistical Data

    In the framework of the Global Fund project “Establishment of evidence-base for national HIV/AIDS program by strengthening the HIV/AIDS surveillance system in the country” Curatio International Foundation has launched 2 sentinel surveillance sites at STI clinics.

    In March 2009 two surveillance sites were established at STI Clinics in Tbilisi and Batumi. The effort representing one of the components of the Global Fund project “Establishment of evidence-base for national HIV/AIDS program by strengthening the HIV/AIDS surveillance system in the country” aimed at calculating HIV prevalence among sub-population. Both sites were equipped with test systems necessary for implementation of sentinel epidemiological surveillance. During four months 988 and 254 patients have been tested in Tbilisi and Batumi respectively.

    Collection of data through sentinel surveillance will make possible to provide evidence-grounded HIV/AIDS statistics and strenghten HIV/AIDS surveillance in Georgia.

    The results of the survey will be available by the end of July.

    In the framework of the same project the Behavior Surveillance Surveys (BSS) with biomarker component among intravenous drug users (IDUs), Commercial Sex Workers (CSWs), and prisoners has been carried out.

  • Mr. George Gotsadze approved as a Permanent Member of the Global Fund TRP

    By the decision of the Global Fund 19-th board meeting Mr.George Gotsadze, the Director of Curatio International Foundation was appointed as a Permanent Member of the Technical Review Panel (TRP).

    On May 5-6, 2009 at the Global Fund 19-th board meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland the decision upon appointment of Dr. George Gotsadze as a permanent member of the Technical Review Panel (TRP) was made. Mr. Gotsadze will serve as a member up to four rounds commencing from round 9.

    The TRP consists of a maximum of 40 experts. Experts are appointed by the Board for a period of up to four Rounds and are assigned diverse membership opportunities. The Board usually relies on an independent panel of international experts of health and development to guarantee the integrity and consistency of an open and transparent proposal review process and thus support implementation of sound and cost-effective initiatives against fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

    Learn more about TRP and Global Fund’s board decisions.

  • The research article on Household Catastrophic Health Expenditure-evidence from Georgia and its policy implications published in BMC Health Services Research

    On April 28,2009 the research article on Household Catastrophic Health Expenditure-evidence from Georgia and its policy implications was published on the online scientific journal BMC Health Services Research. The research undertaken by the highly qualified experts of Curatio International Foundation was funded by the organization itself. The study was based on the data of the Health Care Utilization and Expenditure survey conducted during May-June 2007 prior to preparing for new phase of implementation for the health care financing reforms. It aimed at quantifying extent of catastrophic household health expenditures, exploring its influencing factors and estimating fairness in Financial Contribution (FFC) index in Georgia to establish the baseline for expected reforms and contribute to the design and the fine-tuning of the major reforms in health care financing initiated by the government mid-2007. The research results show that in Georgia between 2000 and 2007 access to care for poor has improved slightly and the share of households facing catastrophic health expenditures have seemingly increased from 2.8% in 1999 to 11.7% in 2007. Follow the link to read the article.

  • National Conference in the framework of the Global Fund funded project

    On December 24, 2008 the first phase of the project “Establishment of evidence base for national HIV/AIDS program by strengthening of HIV/AIDS surveillance system in the country” was closed by the National Conference.

    The event highlighted crowning achievements of the project and aimed at presenting National HIV/AIDS Surveillance Plan, Electronic Management Information System and all activities implemented on the path of project implementation period.

    The convention hosted the Minister of Health, Labor and Social Affairs, Head of the Health and Social Affairs Committee of the Georgian Parliament, and representatives from donor organizations, National Center for Disease Control and Public health, Center of Infectious Disease, AIDS and Clinical immunology and NGOs focusing on HIV/AIDS issues.

    The first phase of the project covered the period from February 2008 till December 2008 and was implemented in the capital Tbilisi and regional city Batumi by Curatio International Foundation in partnership with Georgian Infectious diseases, AIDS and Clinical Immunology Research Center, Public Union “Bemoni” and association “Tanadgoma”. The effort is funded by the Global Fund.

  • 15 Years For Serving Development, 2009

    15 years anniversary publication spotlights some of the Curatio International Fondation’s (CIF) achievements in health system reform since 1994, thus shedding some light on the impact of CIF’s contributions, and to address the organization’s future aspirations. Published in December, 2009.

     

  • CIF conducted a workshop to discuss HIV/AIDS Surveillance System Assessment results

    Trainings on Mental Health Financing conducted with the financial support of Adam Smith Foundation end successfully. 25 representatives from Mental Health NGOs, Association of psychiatrics, psychiatric coalition, ombudsmen office and media enjoyed an opportunity of gaining sound understanding of conceptual model of mental health financing. On June 9 the conclusive meeting following the series of trainings on Mental Health Financing was held. It summed up the experience gained during the training course by the participants, appraising effectiveness of the course, and analyzing results of the survey carried out on the previous meeting.

    Trainings conducted during April 22- May 15 2008 were delivered by the highly qualified consultant trainer Dr. George Gotsadze. 25 representatives from Mental Health NGOs, Association of psychiatrics, psychiatric coalition, ombudsmen office and media enjoyed an opportunity of gaining sound understanding of conceptual model of mental health financing.

    The course consisted of 4 comprehensive, interactive type trainings each of them increasing capacity of participants for advocating for the needs of mentally ill people through intense engagement with the government on public financial management.

    Comparative analysis of local practices of mental health financing with this of selected European countries gave the rich landscape of sources and chains of mental health financing.

    The evaluation questionnaire delivered at the end of the course proved the trainings highly informative and beneficial since they enabled organizations to fully realize their shortfalls and take actions for improving their performance.

    This effort became possible in the framework of the project implemented by the Curatio International Foundation with the financial support of Adam Smith Foundation.