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The Campaign A baseline survey was conducted which formed the basis of an inception workshop from which communication materials for the advocacy campaign were developed. NASCOP provided Gertrude’s with the latest data and information on capacity development of health workers in the country. The campaign was done through mass media and interpersonal channels of communication such as workshops. Media Involvement About 30 representatives from community organisations participated in a one-day basic interactive advocacy training session, to help build their advocacy skills especially in paediatric HIV. During the campaign, a core group of 15 journalists were exposed to the issues of paediatric HIV resulting in media coverage of the initiative. Lessons Learned About Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital, Nairobi ,Kenya is one of the few hospitals in Sub-Saharan Africa that is dedicated solely to the provision of healthcare for children with it mission through the Gertrude’s Professional Training Centre to improve knowledge by training people in paediatric care For More Information About This Project Contact: Name Gordon Otieno Odundo Advocacy for Paediatric HIV and AIDS Training Statement of Problem In Kenya, where infant and child mortality rates had been decreasing, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and malnutrition are now the leading cause of mortality. WHO estimates that 400 million children worldwide are infected with HIV or ill with AIDS annually, with more than 90% of them coming from Sub-Saharan Africa. Clinical treatment of children with HIV/AIDS poses particular challenges; children are not just small adults they require special care, treatment, and drug formulations and this requires that healthcare workers receive specific education, training, and on-going support. Project Description The overall aim of the project was to save the lives of children affected and infected by HIV/AIDS through advocacy for improved training that will result in the better quality of care.A major bottleneck in achieving better quality of Pediatric HIV and AIDS care and treatment is the lack of trained health care workers. Overall Objective Between March and August 2011, Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital, with support from the Regional AIDS Training Network and in conjunction with stakeholder organisations carried out an advocacy campaign to raise awareness about the unique challenges facing management of paediatric HIV/AIDS in Kenya. Specific Objectives Our advocacy campaign was aimed at persuading stakeholders and policy makers to develop and implement policies and guidelines that will promote scale up of programmes that will help move the country towards the vision that no child should be born HIV positive Results The Process Figure 1 The organisations that took part in the campaign also agreed to widen the scope and develop a caucus of like-minded organisations that can collaborate in future initiatives to generate larger campaigns and more visibility for the issue of paediatric HIV/AIDS. Gertrude’s recognizes that significant policy changes require sustained communication and advocacy efforts and with time will develop further its advocacy efforts through collaborative partnerships MI Log o An INSTANT Project
