PROMISING AND BEST PRACTICES 

"A promising and best practice (PBP)" is defined as an experience, initiative or program that has proven its effectiveness and its contribution to the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and that can serve as an example and inspiring model for others ( program planners, managers, and implementers )." .
AWARE-HIV/AIDS PBP Consensus Workshop Dakar , Senegal , 2004

AWARE-HIV/AIDS facilitates experience sharing among West African countries and supports the replication of successful approaches to HIV prevention and care. This will contribute to the rapid scale-up of the response to the epidemic in the West African region.

To this end, AWARE-HIV/AIDS collaborates with those organizations whose programs meet rigorously pre-defined standards as a Promising and Best Practice, to support the dissemination and replication of these programs.

The 5 technical areas of focus include:

•  Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT)

•  Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT)

•  Care and treatment

•  Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Management

•  Behavior Change Communication (BCC)

Organizations whose programs meet the criteria for PBP are being supported by AWARE-HIV/AIDS to document their experiences for dissemination and replication in their countries and in the region.

LEARNING SITES

AWARE-HIV/AIDS will initiate the replication efforts for Promising and Best Practices (PBP) by supporting institutions with selected PBPs and transforming their sites into Learning Sites that provide technical assistance in replicating PBPs. Currently, AWARE-HIV/AIDS is supporting learning sites in Ghana, Cameroon and Senegal.

Additionally, to facilitate replication, AWARE-HIV/AIDS will also provide limited support (e.g. small grants) to countries wanting to replicate the selected PBP's. The level of support will be based on the expressed needs by each country and the resources available to AWARE-HIV/AIDS.