By Daran Rehmeyer | Executive Director
Swaziland holds the distinction of the country with the highest HIV prevalence rate in the world. Many in the isolated and impoverished rural communities in this country have no way to access the health care generally available in the urban areas. The Lubombo Region in eastern Swaziland has large areas where health care services are difficult to access because of distance to care and poverty.
As HIV moves from an unchecked epidemic in Swaziland to a managed contagious chronic disease, other health issues move to the fore. NCDs (Non-Communicable Diseases) move to the forefront of health issues which still need to be treated. However, the situation which kept the isolated population from being able to access HIV health services has not changed. Health services for any health issue remain difficult to access. The Kudvumisa Clinic in Maphiveni will alleviate this problem for one specific underserved area in Lubombo.
The success of the CHIPS (Community HIV Intervention Programme Swaziland) outreach in this area has shown that focused and consistent care in a community will bring positive health results. A full service clinic that caters to the needs of this area, while still operating as the hub for the mobile outreach, will bring great benefit to Maphiveni and all the surrounding areas.
Integrating health services (mainstreaming) with HIV health care will bring benefit to the entire community by helping destigmatize HIV care and make it more readily available to possibly unreached segments of the population. In addition, the population in Maphiveni and the immediate surrounding areas are well outside the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended 8 km distance to available health care. The Kudvumisa Clinic will provide essential services to a population which is excluded by distance and cost form the nearest government clinics.
A full and comprehensive range of services will be available with the projected staff at the clinic. Staffing will include a minimum of one doctor and two nurses. Managed by a facility manager and the doctor, the clinic will operate under Kudvumisa Foundation, a registered non-profit in Swaziland.
Sustainability of any project of this nature will require long term planning and support. In part, this will be ensured by an income stream from an adjacent commercial development in Maphiveni. Additionally, support (financial, material and personnel) will continue from Kudvumisa Foundation USA, Inc.
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