This technical report describes results achieved during the demonstration phase of an improvement collaborative implemented in Cote d’Ivoire by the USAID Health Care Improvement Project (HCI), the National Program for the Medical Management of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PNPEC), and the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene in order to improve the quality of HIV services.

An initial evaluation of the quality of care and treatment for persons living with HIV (PLHIV) was conducted from July – August 2008 in 33 health care centers throughout Cote d’Ivoire in order to draw attention to the need for improvements among different components of care and treatment services. After the restitution of the results of the initial evaluation and the establishment of the elements of an improvement collaborative, 41 sites were selected to participate in the demonstration phase of the collaborative. Of these 41 sites, 34 provide prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services, and 38 provide anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment services.

La Côte d’Ivoire a une prévalence élevée du VIH, avec 4,7 % de la population infectée par le virus. Cependant en 2008, une évaluation nationale de la prévention de la transmission mère-enfant du VIH (PTME) et les services de thérapie antirétrovirale (ARV) ont montré un écart important dans la qualité des soins tant dans le secteur privé que public. Pour mesurer les effets du collaboratif quant à la réduction des écarts, le Projet d’Amélioration des soins de santé de l’USAID (HCI) en Côte d’Ivoire, a comparé les résultats obtenus dans les sites de démonstration et ceux obtenus sur de nouveaux sites qui allaient rejoindre le projet. Ce rapport décrit le collaboratif d’amélioration qui a été mis en place par HCI en 2009 pour améliorer les soins et services ARV/PTME offerts aux PVVIH (Personne Vivant avec le VIH).

At the request of the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund), the USAID Health Care Improvement Project (HCI) developed an approach to yield meaningful information about the quality of HIV services for users at multiple levels of the health system. The approach proposes 16 quality criteria (QC) that were assessed through 25 existing indicators. The indicators were based on measures previously required or recommended by funders and other stakeholders, such as the Global Fund, PEPFAR, and the World Health Organization. This report presents the findings from a field test of the approach in five countries in three world regions: Africa, Eurasia, and Southeast Asia.

This short report describes assistance that the USAID Health Care Improvement Project (HCI) is providing to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) and to the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) to develop an approach that can be used to harmonize global reporting and improve the quality of HIV services and health outcomes. This study details HCI’s approach that employs 16 quality criteria for 5 HIV service delivery areas: testing and counseling, care and treatment, PMTCT, TB/HIV, and harm reduction. Field tests were conducted in five selected countries: 3 in Africa, 1 in Eurasia and 1 in Southeast Asia.