World AIDS Campaign (WAC) – Egypt (IFMSA-Egypt)

Name of the activity: World AIDS Campaign (WAC)

Country/NMO: Egypt (IFMSA-Egypt)

Program: HIV/AIDS & Other STIs

Contact information: [email protected]

Type of the activity: Campaign

General description:

World AIDS Campaign in Egypt aims to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS to help in HIV prevention in clinical setting and ending the stigma related to it. We target medical students and health care workers specifically due to our belief that their discrimination against people living with HIV is among the foremost barriers to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. Specifically, research has shown that stigma and discrimination undermine HIV prevention efforts by making people afraid to seek HIV information and services. The activity raises the awareness and builds the capacity of future and current health care workers by providing workshops, awareness in physical campaigns and participation with UNAIDS.
Physical Campaigns are held through innovative methods as interactive theatre and using audiovisuals to have a stronger impact and a wider reach.

Focus area:

Raising awareness among the general public about STIs, STI education or training for future health-care professions

Problem statement:

According to UNAIDS Egypt, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS is 11000 and only 27% of them are on ART. This small percentage is largely due to the stigma and discrimination people living with HIV face in the medical setting from health care workers. The attitude of the health care workers is based on their misconceptions and lack of knowledge about HIV prevention and wrong religious concepts.

Target groups and beneficiaries:

Target Groups : Medical Students in Egypt and Health Care Workers
The general public
Beneficiaries: People living with HIV

Objectives and indicators of success:

Goal 1: Building the capacity of a team of 20 medical students per local committee by November, 2017
Objective 1.1: Train 25 trainers representing the different LCs by November, 2017.
Objective 1.2: Train a team of 20 medical students per LC by November, 2017

Goal 2: Increase awareness among 10,000 Medical Students about HIV transmission, Stigma and Discrimination by the end of December 2017.
Objective 2.1: Training a team of about 20 members in each local Committee by November 2017
Objective 2.2: Outreach campaigns in 23 Universities targeting about 10,000 medical students about PrEP and PEP from mid-November till the end of December 2017

Goal 3: Increase awareness among 2500 Healthcare Workers in 15 Public and University Hospitals about HIV transmission, Stigma and Discrimination by the end of December 2017
Objective 3.1: Outreach campaign in University hospitals, targeting about 2,500 healthcare workers from mid-November till the end of December 2017

Goal 4: Raising the awareness of 10,000 persons in 18 different governorates by January 2018
Objective 4.1: Outreach physical campaigns in the different governorates from December 2017 till January 2018
Objective 4.2: Increasing the synchronizing between the local committees by having a joint day, for as many committees as possible aiming to attach media to such event and to increase the visibility in the campaigns
Objective 4.3: Hold an engaging online campaign from mid-November till the end of December 2017

Measures of success:
Through regular reporting system and reaching the following outcomes:
• 1 trainer per local committee with a total number of 25 trainers in IFMSA-Egypt
• 20 medical students trained on raising awareness about HIV/AIDS per local committee
• 10,000 medical students across Egypt educated about HIV
• 2,500 health care workers educated about HIV particularly PrEP and PEP
• Physical Campaign in each governorate correcting the misconceptions of 10,000 person

Methodology:

Phase 1: Online Campaign:
1-Make a video against stigma with a celebrity
2-Publish an engaging informative post per week from mid-November till the end of December
3-Story lines made into movies and pictures

Phase 2: Workshop:
• Conduct an advanced national workshop in cooperation with UNAIDS and NAP for 25 medical students in October 2017
• Conduct a local workshop in each LC targeting 20-25 students by November 2017
• Provide materials (posters and flyers) to the local committees to be used in physical campaigns.

Phase 3: Physical Campaigns:
• Outreach physical campaigns in the different governorates from December 2017 till January 2018
• Increasing the synchronizing between the local committees by having a joint day, for as many committees as possible aiming to attach media to such event and to increase the visibility in the campaigns
• Hold an engaging online campaign from mid-November till the end of December 2017
• Hold physical campaigns in 23 universities:
 Booths within the campuses
 Educational conferences and sessions for medical students
 Interactive plays and theatre based awareness
 Distribute materials and flyers
• Hold physical campaigns in University Hospitals
• Distribute flyers and tokens to the health care workers
• Cooperating with Caritas in Alexandria to hold physical campaigns in public hospitals
• Conduct sessions for nurses and hospital workers

Phase 4: World AIDs Day Celebration on the 1st of December
Hold a national conference for combating HIV related stigma in health care settings targeting health care workers and medical students.

Plans for evaluation:

• General Evaluation of the local workshops by the attendees.
• Number of medical students, health care workers and people reached.
• Pre and post questionnaire technique to analyze knowledge, before and after the awareness.