Featured Projects

AIDSRelief: Providing Treatment, Restoring Hope

As part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, this 9-country project provides rapid scale up of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Futures Group International is collaborating with a consortium led by Catholic Relief Services that includes Catholic Medical Mission Board, Interchurch Medical Assistance, and University of Maryland Institute for Human Virology.

The consortium's goal is to assure that people living with HIV have access to ART and can be retained in high quality medical care. The AIDSRelief team is expanding the provision of ART to the greatest number of needy patients in the target countries consistent with good medical science, national priorities and programs, and cost-effective deployment of program resources. Priority countries include Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda, Nigeria, Haiti, and Guyana. The goal over the five-year project period is to have 137,000 people in care and treatment.

Futures is leading the project's Strategic Information System component across the diverse local partner treatment facilities (LPTF), which covers monitoring and evaluation and patient management and monitoring (PMM) systems. Using in-country networks and innovative open source technology, Futures is building a strong, sustainable clinical records and program information system that will be used to collect and track data across the various local partner treatment facilities. Strategic information includes project indicators and those from the President's Emergency Plan and national ministries of health. This information is essential to providing high quality care and treatment regimens, ensure drug durability, track progress, and accurate reporting.

The level of monitoring and evaluation required for this project is extensive. While reporting on indicators to donors and governments is essential, the primary purpose of collecting clinical information is to assist clinicians and clinic managers in providing high-quality chronic disease care and to build sustainable systems of care. The monitoring and evaluation will also be integral to the program objectives of the project, monitoring viral suppression and building capacity for an improved data culture in recipient countries.

Success Stories: Data System Improves Care, Helps Disseminate Knowledge

Before joining AIDSRelief, Nsambya relied on a manual paper-based system of keeping clinical records. Access to data was difficult and generating reports was practically impossible. When Futures under AIDSRelief introduced and implemented a patient monitoring and management (PMM) system designed specially for patients who have HIV, the record keeping at Nsambya was transformed. This system allows the staff to easily access and utilize the data. For example, drug procurement is more accurate because they can forecast how many patients will need certain drugs. Every week an inter-disciplinary team of staff members assembles to discuss difficult cases. They can bring up the data from the PMM and analyze it together, enhacing the comprehensive approach to patient care.