Sierra Leone Follow-Up Actions

Dr. Brima Kargbo, National AIDs Commission

Summary: The National HIV/AIDS Programme (NACP) piloted a rapid results approach (RRA) to help increase the number of people registering for voluntary testing and counseling services in the Western area. After 13 weeks of intensive efforts at mobilizing the communities and transferring the VCCT services from the hospitals, to the local community centres, 15,739 people came forward for testing, compared to about 200 per month prior to the RRA. The project seeks to scale up this approach and integrate VCCT activities into routine primary health care services within the entire country. The project will be implemented with the assistance of local village elders, religious leaders, TBAs, healers, women and youth groups.