In order to foster relationships with journalists, POP INN organized a media round table. This event featured both interactions with the POP INN team and clients they serve, introducing them to the organization's work and educating them on how to effectively cover the LGBTQI community.  

The POP INN Clinics offer free sexual health services to Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) and Transgender Women (TGW) in Tembisa, Mbombela, Pietermaritzburg, Durban, and Pretoria. 

Lulu Zikode and Nhlanhla Shange, who are both transgender women and members of the LGBTQI, emphasize the significance of receiving gender health care because they believe it will help them become more authentic versions of themselves. In this quest, Aurum POP INN was crucial.

The centres provide a Safe Space for Key Population Communities to receive counseling, screening for HIV, STIs, and TB, receive PrEP or ART, and receive psycho-social support services inclusive of gender-affirming health care and hormonal therapy.

POP INN has maintained its commitment to inclusivity by accepting traditional healers as clients and assisting in the education of the public about HIV treatment and prevention. Traditional healer Lungisani Ngubo, also known as "Makhosi Ngubo", is wholly supportive of the partnership between the two fields in the fight against HIV testing and treatment anxiety.

The Adherence Support Coalition to End TB (ASCENT) project is collaborating with City Health, and TB HIV Care funded by the Global Fund to implement Digital Adherence Technologies (DATs), to support tuberculosis (TB) patients to successfully complete their treatment in the Western Cape. 60 participants have been enrolled within the first 2 months of the project in Cape Town. 

The ASCENT project, implemented by The Aurum Institute in South Africa, aims to help TB patients to successfully complete their course of treatment, using DATs linked to a central web-based platform (Everwell).

The Cape Town launch was held at the Phumlani Clinic in Mitchells Plain on 23 September 2021 and was attended by delegates from the City of Cape Town’s Health Department, The Aurum Institute, TB HIV Care, beneficiaries, and community members. Dr Zahid Badroodien, a Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health gave the keynote address, outlining the efforts the city has invested in the fight to end TB. He highlighted the potential of the EvriMED pill boxes to improve TB treatment outcomes and the ultimately eliminate the disease.

Two patients gave testimonials of how the pill box has improved their adherence and how they felt more supported by healthcare system. “Having this box is like having a healthcare worker in my house, I can never go wrong now”, said a patient from Weltevreden Clinic. The City Health’s TB Programme Manager Judy Taylor invested a lot of time and effort in getting the project off the ground which is appreciated by the ASCENT South Africa team.

Implementation visits

ASCENT Programme Manager Nontobeko Ndlovu, Junior Project Manager Tanyaradzwa Dube and Monitoring and Evaluation Manager Jeff Weisser visited the 16 clinics who have begun implementing the project, to conduct quality monitoring and provide technical support.

Healthcare workers in the “mother city”, as Cape Town is known, embraced the pill boxes and incorporated monitoring patients on the Everwell platform into their daily routines. “TB nurses really appreciated the implementation guidance and support from The Aurum Institute, and the psychosocial support being provided by the social workers from TB HIV Care,” said Ndlovu.

The Unitaid funded and supported ASCENT project in South Africa is led by KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation together with The Aurum Institute and in partnership with London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and PATH.

Source: https://www.digitaladherence.org/ascent-south-africa-launches-in-cape-town/ 

O Governo de Moçambique demonstrou o seu compromisso para acabar com a TB, com o Primeiro Ministro Carlos Agostinho do Rosário presidindo recentemente o lançamento de uma nova terapia de prevenção da TB (TPT).

A Fundação Aurum, afiliada em Moçambique de The Aurum Institute, está introduzindo um tratamento de curta duração para TPT, chamado 3HP, como parte do projecto IMPAACT4TB. O tratamento previne que pessoas com TB latent desenvolvam a forma activa da doença tuberculosa. IMPAACT4TB, liderado pela Aurum, é implementado simultaneamente em 12 países com alta carga de TB. Em Moçambique, Gana e África do Sul, Aurum implementa o projecto directamente.

Acesso

Em declarações no lançamento, o dr. Emilio José Valverde, Director Nacional da Fundação Aurum sublinhou que o 3HP facilitará o acesso ao tratamento preventivo da TB necessário para pessoas vivendo com HIV e crianças que estejam em contacto com casos de TB nos seus lares.

No lançamento, celebrado no Conselho Municipal da Cidade de Maputo, estiveram também presentes o Ministro da Saúde, dr. Armindo Tiago, o Presidente do Conselho Municipal da Cidade de Maputo Eneas Comiche, o Director do Programa Nacional de Controlo da Tuberculose (PNCT) dr. Ivan Manhiça, e outros oficiais do governo, bem como representantes de diferentes parceiros de saúde nacionais e internacionais.

Parceiro relevante 

“O lançamento do 3HP é a confirmação da Fundação Aurum como um parceiro relevante no sector da saúde em Moçambique, particularmente nas áreas de TB e HIV,” disse Valverde.

O primeiro paciente que recebe 3HP iniciou tratamento durante a cerimónia de lançamento. Poucos dias mais tarde, a administração de 3HP começou em diferentes Unidades Sanitárias, dentre elas o Centro de Saúde do Zimpeto em Maputo, onde a paciente Naima Júlio começou o seu tratamento com 3HP. Desde então, mais de 600 pacientes começaram já tratamento em várias Unidades Sanitárias.

“Temos grandes expectativas com a introdução do 3HP, e esperamos conseguir financiamento para outros projectos, visando a consolidação da Fundação Aurum no sector da pesquisa operacional em saúde em Moçambique,” disse Valverde.