HIV Workforce Capacity Building Strategy

A major impediment to scaling up HIV services in the region is the lack of a skilled workforce. Through the HIV Workforce Capacity Building Strategy, and its component activities AusAID is aiming to build capacity in the health care, community and research sectors, to address HIV in the Asia Pacific region.

The four components of the Strategy are:

1. Integrating Capacity Building into Key Bilateral and Regional Programs

This means that where possible capacity development work should be integrated into bilateral and regional programs. Currently this component of the Strategy is being trialled in Papua New Guinea.

2. Strengthening Regional Advocacy

This involves supporting regional advocacy organisations to monitor and evaluate the progress of regional goals, and strengthen capacity to facilitate universal access and greater involvement of people living with HIV/AIDs (GIPA).

3. Facilitating South-South Collaboration

South by South collaboration involves facilitating exchange between low and middle income country partners. Southern country partners can be better placed to build capacity in resource poor settings.

Currently both components of Strengthening Regional Capacity and Facilitating South by South Collaboration are being delivered through an agreement with UNAIDS to support regional civil society organisations.

4. Linking Australian Organisations with In-Country Partners

This component is currently being delivered through Australia’s HIV Consortium under the Regional HIV Capacity Building Program

The HIV Consortium

Established in 2007 the HIV Consortium for Partnerships in Asia and the Pacific is comprised of Australian organisations working in HIV Health care, research and community responses to contribute to effective HIV responses. The HIV Consortium is hosted by the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine (ASHM). The HIV Consortium is now working to strengthen the role of partners in Indonesia, East Timor the Pacific and the Greater Mekong Region. The HIV Consortium is implementing the Regional HIV Capacity Building Program.

The purpose of the Program is to foster strategic partnerships and linkages between Australia and the Asia Pacific region to increase the capacity of partners in healthcare, research and community sectors in order to contribute to effective HIV responses.

The Program objectives are:

to develop the capacity of health care workers and their organisations (e.g. health services, professional associations) to scale up and manage HIV services;
to develop the capacity of researchers and research institutions to develop and maintain a local evidence base on HIV and effective responses, including through social, behavioural, economic, epidemiological and clinical research;
to develop the capacity of community organisations and community sector workers to scale up and manage community and peer based HIV services;
to establish and maintain sustainable capacity building partnerships across the region to support improved HIV responses of health care, research and community sections; and
to develop the Consortium as an effective mechanism to achieve the Program goal.

The Consortium includes Albion St Centre, Australasian Society for HIV Medicine, Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League, Australia Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, National Serology Reference Laboratory, National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, School of Public Health and Community Medicine and Scarlet Alliance, Australian Sex Workers Association.

More information can be found at the HIV Consortium website.

August 2009