PROJECT : HIV/AIDS, DRUG ABUSE, MOTHER AND CHILD HEALTH CARE

A) Addressing (Fueling Factors) with HIV/AIDS & Drug Substance Abuse
The office opened the first ever Drug & Substance Abuse and HIVAIDS counseling centre in the urban Stone Town Centre at Mkunazini. In the year 2003 with support from the Global Fund Geneva and ZAC, ZAYEDESA opened 4 Youth Friendly VCT centres at Miembeni, Nungwi and Paje in Unguja and one at Mkoani in Pemba. The funding provided, supported training for counselors and peer educators from various peer groups who educate and conduct voluntary counseling and testing in HIV/AIDS, Drug and Substance Abuse and other Sexual Transmission Infections (STI’s), by distributing Information, Education, Communication (IEC) materials, conduct outreach programs by mobile cinema shows in remote rural areas, seminars and school debates, sport events, radio and television talk shows in Unguja and Pemba.

A rehabilitation centre for drug users is being planned by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in partnership with ZAYEDESA. This will be located at Tunguu on land made available to the Ministry by ZAYEDESA for that purpose.

B) ZAYEDESA provides access to anonymous toll free National AIDS Helpline through which pre and post-marital sex is discouraged, but abstinence and being faithful is advocated. And also discourage the use of drugs, alcohol, weed or any intoxicating substance, in order to fight and reduce the spread of the virus and encourage youth to live a better and healthier lifestyle.

C) Special programme for Injection Drug Users (IDUs)
The new programme that particularly deals with IDUs’ (Injection Drug Users) who tend to share needles and Most At Risk Population (MARPS), ZAYEDESA through International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP) with funds from Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has embarked into a neighborhood reach out programme that directly involves the community.

This programme known as United For Risk Reduction and HIV/AIDS Prevention (URRAP), a NGO partnership of ZAYEDESA, ZAIADA, and ZYF. This programme has trained 50 more Peer Educators and 25 data collectors, thus creating employment in addition to easier access and availability of services at our centres. The Peer Educators expose the high risk of sharing needles and risky habits that increase in the spread of the HIV virus. The targeted populations are highly encouraged to undertake voluntary blood testing in order to appreciate their health status.

D ) Mother & Child Health Care
In collaboration with the French NGO, Aide Medical Et Development (AMD) from Grenoble, France, and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of the Government of Zanzibar, ZAYEDESA constructed a new maternity unit at the Government General Hospital. This unit is an extension of the old maternity ward.

The new unit has all modern facilities that ensure safe child birth. ZAYEDESA and AMD have established exchange programmes involving midwives and other professional staff. Medical personnel from France visit Zanzibar to practice and train medical staff some of whom are later sent to Grenoble, France for educational visits and further training.

The ZAYEDESA/AMD cooperation has been extended to other parts of Zanzibar. Maternity clinics have been renovated and extended in Tumbatu Island, Nungwi and Kivunge Hospitals. In Pemba, the Wete hospital maternity theater has been renovated and a new maternity unit will be constructed in Micheweni.

E) Construction of New Orphanage
After the revolution of 1964, the Government of Zanzibar established the first orphanage for abandoned children in the Stone Town at Forodhani. With the increasing number of orphans partly as the result of the AIDS epidemic, the demand has made this home inadequate and does not have enough amenities to serve the children comfortably, and the town has become too crowded for a healthy environment for the children.

As a result, a new two storey orphanage with appropriate facilities is now being constructed by ZAYEDESA with the help of various stakeholders, at Mazizini – suburban area with very good infrastructure. This new home will be a modern and very spacious accommodation which will cater for more than the current number of children. And ZAYEDESA will continue to give support to the new home as it believes in the importance of providing children with good parental care.