TSEHAI (Technical Support for the Ethiopia HIV/AIDS ART Initiative) is a technical assistance project funded by PEPFAR that provides technical support to four regions in Ethiopia. The specific objectives of TSEHAI project include the following:
• Supporting the implementation of comprehensive ART at 20 hospitals in 4 regions (Addis Ababa, SSNPR, Gambella and Benishangul Gumez),
• Assisting partner institutions in the implementation of PMTCT services
• Strengthening site-level HIV counseling and testing at the 20 partner hospitals,
• Supporting TB/HIV activities at the partner institutions,
• Supporting provision of palliative care, opportunistic infection prohylaxis and malaria preventive strategies at partner institutions and strengthening referral system to community services,
• Assisting a consortium of seven Ethiopian universities in the development and implementation of standardized protocols for clinical data collection, and establishment of a multi-site patient cohort database and specimen repository
• Supporting the establishment of a longitudinal surveillance system that can be used to provide information regarding issues such as regimen adherence, co-infections and program retention.
This is a four year project which started in 2005. A broad range of assistance is provided to health facilities including training and mentoring, development of guidelines and clinical protocols, logistical and material support, strengthening referrals and health networks, and quality assurance and monitoring services. Additionally, support is being provided to the national program to establish health management information system. This project is implemented in close collaboration with the Regional Health Bureaus, Addis Ababa University and Debub Universities and the Federal Ministry of Health. Strengthening the capacity of the universities to undertake the support services to their regions will be a major focus. Other partners include JHPIEGO and international universities providing technical assistance in other regions of the country.
