Solthis Therapeutic Solidarity and Initiatives for Health

29 March 2023 |  Informations |  ATLAS, Global fund, HIV, PrEP

The first submission window for the new Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis (GFATM) grant cycle, GC 7, took place at the end of March.

In this context, Solthis was invited to present its experience and expertise in supporting and deploying HIV self-testing and PrEP strategies in West Africa at the Preparing Funding Applications for the 2023-2025 Global Fund cycle workshop organized by UNAIDS in Saly, Senegal, last December.

The objective of the workshop was to share the latest technical guidance and best practices in HIV programming, gender and human rights and community engagement. It also aimed to prepare countries for the process of revising their HIV response strategies and guide them in using the Global Fund country application mechanism.

In the framework of projects and technical assistance, Solthis has acquired significant experience in these two areas, which have been identified as “essential programs” and therefore priorities for the next funding cycle. Anthony Vautier, referent for differentiated services and key populations, had the opportunity to share :

• • • • • • • • • the results of the ATLAS project, an HIV self-testing deployment project targeting key and vulnerable populations, implemented from 2018 to 2022 in Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Senegal, financed by Unitaid with additional funding from AFD, and which has enabled the dispensing of nearly 400,000 self-tests. Since 2021, Solthis has also worked with WHO in other countries in the sub-region through technical assistance financed by the Global Fund, Expertise France and UNAIDS in Niger, Guinea, Mauritania and Chad;
                • the experience of technical assistance implemented in Niger in the framework of a Canal 1 funding – L’Initiative (Expertise France) for the introduction of PrEP for key populations in Niger. Recently, Solthis has also been working with Chad on a feasibility study on the same topic.

ATLAS project

Support SongES and MVS in the development of PrEP and HIV self-testing pilot projects and strengthen their capacity to implement, monitor, evaluate and capitalize on these pilot projects (phase 1)