Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE Kilimanjaro Women Information Exchange and Consultancy Organization (Kwieco) has embarked on a project aimed at improving services for people living with HIV/Aids.
Kwieco Project Coordinator Lilian Mandari said here recently that the project is run through the support from the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
“This project seeks to improve health services while at the same time providing education to people living with HIV/ Aids over the services they are supposed to receive”, explained Ms Mandari.
Ms Mandari said the initiative seeks to improve access to good and quality health services to the intended people. To start with, she said, it will be implemented in the five wards of Mabogini, Arusha Chini, Marangu West, Njia Panda and Kirua Vunjo South, within Moshi district, in Kilimanjaro region.
According to Ms Mandari, People living with HIV/Aids will be involved actively in the programme due to the fact that they are the ones who are targeted and that they are the ones who are in a position to explain efficiently the services they get and the kind of improvement they want to be made in the services they currently receive.
The project will see training conducted to the community groups so as to monitor their development and assess the emerging needs, including compiling new data concerning the feelings of people living with HIV/Aids.
Speaking during the launching of the programme,Kwieco Managing Director Ms Elizabeth Minde urged members of the community to build trust while at the same time embracing openness when dealing with HIV/Aids issues, as part of a new approach in the fight against the global pandemic.
“The main cure is to accept that the disease exists and take full precautions as directed by health experts, as everyone would like to live longer and a happy life”, she said.
For his part, Moshi District Council Acting Medical Officer, Godfrey Meena, commended Kwieco for introducing the project which he said complimented the government’s efforts meant to serve people living with HIV/ Aids.
