Self-assessment tool to measure HIV programmes against global standard

In contrast with the massive advances in HIV treatment, gains in HIV Prevention have been painfully slow. There are still over 1.5 million new HIV infections worldwide, mostly in Africa. Many HIV prevention programmes are underfunded and under-resourced. One way to address this is through a deep dive on the strengths and weaknesses of these programmes.

Genesis Analytics was contracted by the Gates Foundation to develop a tool that could help countries to define the performance of their HIV programmes against a global standardised set of programmatic components. This would allow them to prioritise where additional assistance, resources or other investments were required.

Genesis developed the HIV Prevention Self-Assessment Tool (PSAT), which is an easy-to-use method for countries to assess and monitor their progress toward comprehensive prevention programming and assist in identifying programme areas that need attention.

A separate PSAT was developed for each of the five HIV prevention pillars. These are:

Strengthened national condom and related behavioural change programmes (Condom);
Combination prevention programmes for all key populations (KP);
Offering pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP);
Voluntary male medical circumcision (VMMC); and
Combination prevention for adolescent girls, young women (AGYW) and their male partners in high-prevalence locations.

The PSATs were developed by following an iterative and collaborative process that involved an extensive literature review to identify guidance on best practice, key informant interviews with content experts, piloting of the tool with countries, and final verification with key stakeholders including UNAIDS, FHI360, Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP), Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT), UNFPA and WHO among others.

The PSATs, which are housed on the Global HIV Prevention Coalition (GPC) website, are increasingly being used by countries to inform country strategies and funding applications. The tool is able to produce a snapshot of the prevention landscape at a national level while also allowing for comparisons between countries.