ViiV HEALTHCARE RE-AFFIRMS ITS CONTINUED COMMITMENT TO ENDING MOTHER- TO- CHILD TRANSMISSION OF HIV WITH 35 NEW COMMUNITY GRANTS

ViiV Healthcare, through its Positive Action for Children Fund (PACF), is pleased to announce 35 new grants to community-based organisations from 14 countries in support of local responses to help eliminate mother-to-child transmission (eMTCT) of HIV in some of the most affected communities across the globe. Coupled with six extensions approved earlier in 2016 and - four Collaborathon awards approved at the International Aids Conference (IAC), PACF has established a total of 44 new partnerships with grassroots organisations in 2016.

Peter McDermott, Chairperson of the PACF Board commented: “As we move into a phase of HIV programming under the ‘Start Free. Stay Free. AIDS Free’ framework, investing in community-based organisations is critical if we are to reach our goal of ending the AIDS epidemic among children by 2020. We had a difficult task in selecting just 35 grants for funding, but we are confident that these new grants will fill critical gaps across prevention, treatment, care and support services through those working most closely with the affected.”

Since 2009, PACF has partnered with local organisations working to improve the health and well-being of women and children affected by HIV, and the communities in which they live, by strengthening ties between these communities, local health systems and governments. Following the launch of PACF, the programme has evolved significantly to enable more families to have access to information, prevention measures, testing and care for HIV.

Through our partners, the PACF programme has reached around 1.8 million people in those communities most affected by HIV directly, delivering results on the ground as reported by our grantees over the past five years. These include enabling nearly 217,000 to be tested for HIV, and thus identifying nearly 20,700 infected with the virus.[1] Importantly, the work of our partner organisations has led to more than 170,000 babies born to mothers who are infected with HIV, who were delivered in facilities that can provide the most appropriate support and care for both mother and child.

CLICK HERE for more information about our 2016 grantees.

2017 Call for Proposals

Due to the success of PACF over the past 5 years, which has seen a significant growth in applications, PACF is expanding the opportunities for community-based organisations to apply for funding by moving to a rolling application window with applications being accepted year-round. The PACF Board will meet three times a year to review and approve applications submitted throughout the year.

This new call for proposals will launch on 11 January 2017. For more information on how to submit an application, please visit www.viivhealthcare.com/community-partnerships/positive-action-for-children-fund/applications. From here you can access the Positive Action online-community where you can find out more about the call, access guidance to support your application, and engage with other organisations with whom you may collaborate and learn.

Technical Assistance Call for Proposals

Alongside its grant programme, the PACF’s Technical Assistance programme provides capacity- building support to selected PACF-funded community-based organisations identified as requiring additional technical support to implement their funded project

Technical Assistance aims to strengthen community-based organisation capacity by improving their HIV knowledge, internal processes and individual skills, thereby leading to more effective programmatic interventions and improved health outcomes. It is through this combination of funding  of grassroots organisations and technical support that the PACF aims to enable strengthened community responses, improved programme outcomes and long-term sustainable in-country capacity.

PACF is now inviting organisations with the capacity to provide Technical Assistance to apply to become one of the PACF’s preferred capacity-building partners. For more information on the PACF Technical Assistance Programme, including guidance on how to submit your application, please visit www.viivhealthcare.com/community-partnerships/positive-action-for-children-fund/applications where you will be directed to Positive Action online community.

References

[1] ViiV Healthcare Positive Action for Children Fund Data on File