Africa

Project HOPE’s priorities in Africa include expanding access to care and treatment for underserved populations; building health care worker capacity; and improving screening, diagnosis, and management of diseases. During our nearly 60 years in Africa we have successfully:

• Introduced advanced screening for the detection of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV, including the new diagnostic technology GeneXpert.
• Strengthened community support for adherence and retention to HIV treatment.
• Launched family-centered care and support for orphans and vulnerable children.
• Established a community-based clinic tackling diabetes and hypertension.

Project HOPE is currently working in Namibia, Nigeria, and Malawi to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on orphans and vulnerable children and their caregivers through community-level capacity-building programs. In Namibia, we are also aiming to reduce new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women.

In Malawi and Namibia, Project HOPE is providing community-based prevention, care, and support interventions for those infected, affected, and at-risk of HIV. In both countries we are also working to improve TB case finding and treatment success; expanding access to quality laboratory services; and helping people adhere to treatment regimens.

In Sierra Leone, we are implementing new Kangaroo Mother Care Units for care of preterm and low birth weight infants.

In Ethiopia, we are improving maternal and child health services and expanding targeted community-based HIV/AIDS screening and care in line with the UNAIDS 90-90-90 goals.

Our History in Africa

Project HOPE’s first operations in Africa began in the mid-1960s when the SS HOPE stationed off the coast of Guinea. In 1984, we launched our first health program in-country focused on revamping nursing education in Swaziland. By 1990, our work in Africa expanded to Malawi to improve child survival beginning our decades-long work to improve maternal and child health in Africa. We have since reached 13 African countries with health programs in the areas of economic strengthening, HIV/AIDS, TB, orphans and vulnerable children, maternal and child health, hypertension and diabetes.