HIV/AIDS Assistance and Family Planning/Reproductive Health

With U.S. HIV/AIDS funds unencumbered by the gag rule restrictions, NGOs and USAID missions should be aware of current U.S. policy regarding the coordination of family planning and related health care with provision of HIV/AIDS services. Family planning counseling, referrals and contraceptive supplies (including condoms for prevention of both pregnancy and infection) are important elements of any comprehensive HIV prevention effort.

Released in February 2004, the U.S. Five-Year Global HIV/AIDS Strategy issued by the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator outlines the programmatic priorities for the use of HIV/AIDS funds in the 15 focus countries.The strategy specifies in detail what types of activities the United States will support in the areas of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care, and makes several references to family planning.

In the section entitled, Prevention of HIV infection from mother to child (p. 27), suggested activities include:“Providing technical assistance and expanded training for health care providers (including family planning providers, traditional birth attendants, and others) on appropriate antenatal care, safe labor and delivery practices, breastfeeding, malaria prevention and treatment, and family planning; and strengthening the referral links among health care providers.”

In another section, Innovatively expanding HIV testing (p. 29), the strategy calls for increasing the availability of HIV testing services through several approaches, including:“Integrating testing with other health services, such as family planning, antenatal care, STI [sexually transmitted infection], tuberculosis, and malaria programs, and improving the referral links among all of these services.”

Improving diagnosis and treatment of STIs (p. 31) will be achieved through increased support for STI services that are formally linked to HIV testing and counseling services: “Increasing availability and accessibility of STI treatment services through the expansion of STI prevention and treatment services where appropriate; and integrating STI treatment services with other HIV/AIDS and reproductive health care services and improving the referral links between programs.”