Family Planning and HIV Prevention Integration

	Children attend a health festival in Tolonguina, Madagascar, and hold a flag to remember those lost to HIV/AIDS. Source: Madeleine Pryor, Courtesy of Photoshare

In an era when approximately 33 million adults and children are living with HIV/AIDS and women of childbearing age account for nearly half of the infected population, family planning (FP) has a critical role to play in curbing the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Integrating programs provides opportunities to reach important populations with critical information and services. USAID’s family planning and HIV/AIDS key areas for integration include prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT); voluntary counseling and testing (VCT); antiretroviral treatment (ART); and the development of innovative contraceptive technologies such as microbicides. Integrated family planning and HIV/AIDS services have the potential to reduce missed opportunities and provide comprehensive reproductive health care that addresses the dual risk of HIV infection and unintended pregnancy.

Featured Materials

• The Balanced Counseling Strategy (BCS) - November 2008
  The Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health (FRONTIERS) Program offers the BCS – a practical, interactive, client-friendly counseling strategy that uses three key job aids (visual memory aids) for counseling clients about family planning. The process, tested and refined in several countries, involves a set of steps to determine the method that best suits the client according to her preferences and reproductive health intentions.
  • The BCS tookit is available in English, French, and Spanish upon request from frontiers@popcouncil.org.
  • Download the English version of the User’s Guide, Trainer's Guide, and the three job aids.
  • Access the new interactive toolkit The Balanced Counseling Strategy Plus (BCS+): A Toolkit for Family Planning Service Providers Working in High HIV/STI Prevalence Settings.
    
    
• USAID Communication to the Field: Response to Hormonal Contraception and HIV Findings - 10/07/11 [PDF, 119KB]
  USAID is working closely with the World Health Organization to convene an expert technical consultation in response to a recent analysis suggesting certain methods of hormonal contraception may increase risk of HIV acquisition.  Click above to read USAID’s latest statement regarding this analysis. Translations are available in Spanish [PDF, 296KB] and French [PDF, 134KB].
  
  
• Peer Education: A Viable Approach for Reaching Youth - 05/27/08 [PDF, 50KB]
  This brief explores peer education as an effective way to improve youth reproductive and sexual health outcomes. Youth peer education programs educate and train motivated young people about reproductive health and HIV issues to become “peer educators” so they are able to communicate these messages to their peers.
  
  
• Family Planning - Integrated HIV Services: A Framework for Integrating Family Planning and Antiretroviral Therapy Services [PDF, 679KB]
  This document focuses on integrating FP and HIV care and treatment services. It encourages supervisors or planners, service providers, and community-based personnel to consider opportunities for operationalizing client-responsive integration of FP and HIV services. The document can be used to develop an understanding of the concept of integration, identify and address policy and systems considerations for integration, and begin thinking about ways to assess capacity for and approach FP integration within ART services.
  


• Resources for HIV/AIDS Sexual and Reproductive Health Integration
  As a member of the Family Planning and HIV/AIDS Integration Partners Working Group, USAID contributed resources to the Web site above to help health professionals in their efforts to integrate provision of sexual and reproductive health services with activities for preventing and treating HIV/AIDS. The collection of documents and other materials reflect field experience and the latest thinking of the health community on integration of HIV and sexual and reproductive health services. The site is designed to identify a full range of resources upon which to develop policies, guidelines, or practices.
  • Subscribe to the Quarterly Highlights E-Newsletter
    
  
  
• Sakhi Saheli – Promoting Gender Equity and Empowering Young Women [PDF, 3.9MB]
  This training manual will benefit those engaged in programs that aim to provide comprehensive gender-based responses to HIV prevention. The manual promotes critical reflection among young women so they may recognize and understand how gender normative attitudes and behaviors affect their everyday lives and can result in increasing their vulnerability to HIV and other reproductive health problems.
  
  
• Family Planning Discussion Topics for Voluntary Counseling and Testing: A Reference Guide for FP Counseling of Individuals, Couples, and Special Groups by Trained VCT Counselors
  This new FP/HIV counseling tool from Pathfinder International provides useful information to help VCT counselors integrate family planning messages into their counseling sessions.
  • Contact tech-comm@pathfind.org to order hard copies.
    



• Family Health International’s YouthLens
  A series of research briefs summarizing the latest information on key issues regarding reproductive health and HIV prevention among youth ages 10 to 24.

• IBP Knowledge Gateway: An Electronic Communication Tool for Global Discussions on Reproductive Health
  This online forum will provide the latest happenings in the field and serve as an opportunity to share global best practices and country-based experiences.
  


• Family Planning/HIV Integration: Technical Guidance for USAID-Supported Field Programs - September 2003 [PDF, 254KB]
  This document includes technical insights regarding FP/HIV integration and should be used in conjunction with USAID’s Guidance on the Definition and Use of the Child Survival and Health Programs Fund for information regarding appropriate use of USAID funds.
  


• Priorities for Family Planning and HIV/AIDS Integration
  This Global Health technical brief describes the key focus areas for integrating family planning and HIV/AIDS programs.
  


• No Missed Opportunities: Integrating Family Planning and HIV Prevention Strengthens Both [PDF, 151KB]
  This poster explains the key areas for the integration of family planning and HIV programs.

  Issue Brief

• Adding Family Planning Sites Increases the Benefits of Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission
  This brief describes the benefits of adding family planning services to PMTCT sites, including increases in child infections averted, child deaths averted, and unintended pregnancies averted.
  

  Success Stories

• Kenya: Educating Men on Reproductive Health Issues through Sports - February 2009 [PDF, 88KB]
  
  
• Ethiopia: “I Can Make a Difference in One’s Family Life”: Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV - May 2008
  
  
• Ethiopia: Strengthening Systems and Services to Prevent Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV - May 2008