ICOBI Past Projects STI Project
Between 1995 and 2001, ICOBI was one the few NGOs that participated in the Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Project in Bushenyi District.
CHILD Project
In 1999, ICOBI was competitively selected as a lead agency to implement a World Bank funded Nutrition and Early Childhood Development Project (NECDP) by the Ministry of Health in Bushenyi District. The project’s objective was to improve the capacity of families and communities to care for children in nutrition, health, and psychosocial and cognitive development. ICOBI identified and trained child care workers (CCWs), built nutrition resource and development centres, provided capacity building to partner CBOs, and trained various stakeholders in nutrition. Overall, 646 CCW’S were trained and equipped with bicycles, solar-powered radio sets and weighing scales for growth monitoring of children.
PMTCT Project
In 2003, ICOBI initiated and launched the program in three health units, namely; Kitagata Hospital, Kabwohe HC IV and Bushenyi Medical Centre (BMC). ICOBI carried out various activities, which included among others; District staff capacity building, community & key stakeholders mobilization and sensitization, provision of voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services, provision of testing kits and nevirapine supplies, supportive counseling and follow up, all these in boost of the national scale up plan of the national PMTCT program. By April 2004, the scale up had gone to HC111’s and had 15 sites in total.
CHAI Project
ICOBI was also responsible for monitoring & supervision of community based organisations implementing Community-led HIV/AIDS Initiatives (CHAI) sub-project under the World Bank supported Uganda Aids Control Project (UACP). ICOBI mobilised people in the communities to form CHAI groups and access funds. 80 groups benefited from these funds.
Family Heath Project
ICOBI trained and is still supporting 80 Family Heath Volunteers to promote reproductive health and carry out social marketing for maternal and child health/family planning products as well as insecticide-treated mosquito nets.
UGFATM Project
ICOBI was the lead Agency in the Ankole region for the Global Fund (HIV/AIDS component) responsible for five priority interventions; Information Education and Communication/Behavioural Change Communication (IEC/BCC), Condom provision & promotion, sexually transmitted infections case management, Home-based care services, and mitigation of the impact of HIV/AIDS on orphans and vulnerable children. ICOBI has recently been mandated to scale up the OVC intervention to seven S.Western Ugandan districts of Bushenyi, Mbarara, Ntungamo, Rukungiri, Kanungu, Kabale and Kisoro.
The Triple~S Initiative project
In 1999 ICOBI with its sister facility-based NGO Bushenyi Medical Centre (BMC) started The Triple-S Initiative in schools that seeks to highlight the importance of young people Staying Safe and Smart. The initiative underscores the need for these students to stay safe from pregnancy and diseases particularly STDs/HIV/AIDS. It also underpins the necessity for them to remain smart upstairs, a prerequisite essential for them not only to achieve their academic goals but also to make and standby good decisions particularly in difficult situations such as responding to peer pressure for sex. ICOBI and BMC have been sponsoring the weekly Triple~S Live phone-in shows on Radio West every Sunday (4.00-5.00PM) since 1999 to date.
Out of School Youth/Community Development Program
ICOBI realized that unemployment among young people was putting them at a high risk of acquiring HIV. ICOBI started promoting income-generating projects for the youths. Prominent among them was the Boda-Boda Scheme through which ICOBI gave out 91 motorcycles. ICOBI will continue distributing more to participating youth in form of a revolving loan scheme. The boda-boda cyclists also disseminate information to their peers and other. They also do peer-to-peer counseling and education.
Full access HBVCT project
In October 2004, ICOBI won an International Centers for Disease Control (CDC) competitive award and implemented Full Access Home-Based Voluntary Counseling and Testing (HBVCT) in the whole of Bushenyi District. 29 outreach teams of counselors and laboratory assistants based at sub-county health units traveled to each of the communities in their respective sub-counties of residence and conducted VCT with the assistance from Resident Parish Mobilizers (RPMs) and Local village council Chairpersons.
The target was to reach over 140,000 households, 2034 villages, 170 parishes and 29 sub-counties of the district in two years. Under this project, HIV positive people were provided with HIV basic care package that contained: Cotrimaxazole (Septrin) prophylaxis, Insecticide treated mosquito nets (ITNs), Safe water vessels, Water guard, Condoms, and Prevention with positives counseling.
The clients who were eligible for ARVs were referred to health centres providing anteretroviral therapy (ART) in the district and beyond. In summary of the 275,074 people found at home and accepted counseling, 266,371 (97%) were tested and received results. 95.4% of these had never tested before and 10,246 (4.0%) were found positive. 68,242 couples tested under this program of which 64,711 tested for the first time.
