The HIV Coverage, Quality, and Impact Network (CQUIN) is a multi-country learning network designed to accelerate the implementation of high-quality differentiated service delivery for HIV. CQUIN’s goal is to increase the number of people living with HIV initiating and sustaining highly effective HIV treatment with sustained viral suppression. Find out more at cquin.icap.columbia.edu

ICAP is providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Health to conduct the Ethiopia Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (EPHIA) survey to assess HIV prevalence, incidence, and access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services. The survey includes household-based interviews and HIV counseling and testing for adults and children. Survey findings will be used to assess the impact of Ethiopia’s HIV response at the national level, and to help guide and target future investment and programs. (funded by PEPFAR through the CDC) Find out more at phia.icap.columbia.edu

ICAP is providing technical support at the national and regional level to implement, monitor, and sustain the delivery of high-quality adult and pediatric HIV prevention, care, and treatment. ICAP is building the capacity of regional health bureaus to provide a full range of services, including HIV counseling and testing, prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT), adult and pediatric HIV treatment, care and support, TB/HIV integration, laboratory support, infection prevention, support for strategic information systems, health systems strengthening, and transition of responsibilities to local partners. ICAP is also building the capacity of universities to provide pre-service medical education and in-service training. (funded by PEPFAR through the CDC)

ICAP conducted an innovative cluster randomized trial aimed at rigorously evaluating the effectiveness of a combination intervention package for the provision of isoniazid prevention therapy (IPT) for tuberculosis in HIV care and treatment programs in Ethiopia, as compared to the current standard of care. The goal was to determine an effective strategy to increase IPT initiation, adherence, and completion among people living with HIV. (funded by NIAID)

View the End-of-Project report here

With this two-year study, ICAP evaluated the therapeutic effectiveness of drugs currently used in Ethiopia against malaria, arthemeterlumefantrine and chloroquine. The research assessed the safety and efficacy of primaquine when used in combination with the existing treatment protocol. The research helped determine the number of recurrent malaria episodes in patients who receive primaquine compared to those who do not. (funded by Menzies School of Health Research)

The Global Nurse Capacity Building Program (GNCBP) is a global health initiative that was administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), under the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, with funding from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). It was implemented by ICAP at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health (ICAP) from 2009 to 2018. GNCBP’s goal was to advance the HIV response toward epidemic control and to improve population health in sub-Saharan Africa by fostering individuals, institutions, and networks to expand, enhance, and sustain the nursing and midwifery workforce. The program used a holistic approach to strengthen nursing and midwifery education and practice through two complementary sub-projects: the Nursing Education Partnership Initiative (NEPI), which expanded the health workforce by producing new nurses and midwives; and the General Nursing (GN) project, which supported the maintenance of a skilled health workforce through continuing professional development (CPD), in support of HIV care and treatment scale up and sustainability. Together, NEPI and GN interventions increased the quantity and quality of the nursing and midwifery workforce by addressing seven domains of health workforce development: infrastructure; curriculum; faculty; clinical skills; production; in-service training; and partnership for policy and regulation. Find the GNCBP final report here Find out more about NEPI and General Nursing Read the GNCBP in Ethiopia report here

Columbia University’s role in implementing PEPFAR began in 2003, when it received funding from the Global AIDS Program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under the University Technical Assistance Projects (UTAP) to support the development of important components of national HIV programs, including treatment protocols and training. In 2004, ICAP was founded and was awarded a new cooperative agreement from CDC under the PEPFAR framework, the Track 1.0 funding mechanism, to provide comprehensive HIV care and treatment in five countries: Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tanzania, with programming in Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, and Nigeria subsequently added. This initiative, the Multicountry Columbia Antiretroviral Program (MCAP), rapidly expanded programs for HIV care and ART by promoting early diagnosis of HIV infection, maintaining the health of those living with HIV, and preventing further transmission of HIV within the community. MCAP programming between 2004 and 2012, in addition to being focused on rapidly scaling up care and treatment in partnership with host-country governments, also emphasized the full continuum of HIV-related services, continued capacity building and health systems strengthening, and transition of operations to host governments and local nongovernmental organizations. Find the MCAP End-of-Project Reports here.

From 2005-2015, ICAP provided technical assistance to the FMOH, Ethiopia Public Health Institute, and regional reference laboratories to support malaria laboratory diagnosis and monitoring activities. (funded by the President’s Malaria Initiative through USAID)  View the End-of-Project resources here

ICAP collaborated with CUNY School of Public Health, the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at Columbia University, and the Oromia Regional Bureau of Health on a study to determine the multi-level factors associated with late antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation in areas of sub-Saharan Africa and Ethiopia where ART is being scaled-up rapidly. ICAP worked to develop general and practical recommendations for clinical-level interventions that would result in earlier ART initiation. (funded by the NIH)

ICAP provided technical support at the national and regional level to implement and monitor adult and pediatric HIV prevention, care and treatment services, including blood safety, infection prevention, and strategic information systems. ICAP also supported hospitals and health centers providing HIV care. Working with regional reference laboratories, ICAP strengthened antiretroviral therapy monitoring, early infant diagnosis and quality assurance for HIV, and related laboratory tests. (funded by PEPFAR though the CDC)

View the End-of-Project report here

In September 2002, the Mailman School of Public Health (MSPH) at Columbia University (CU) entered into a Cooperative Agreement with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for the University Technical Assistance Projects (UTAP) in Support of the Global HIV/AIDS Program. Situated within ICAP, UTAP was originally envisioned as a single-country program for the provision of technical assistance, but rapidly grew to include long-term and short-term technical and administrative assistance to the national responses to HIV/AIDS in five countries: Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia. As the original UTAP project drew to a close and PEPFAR moved into its second phase—focused on sustainability—ICAP entered into several, follow-on Cooperative Agreements, called UTAP-2. Four were country-focused (in Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Swaziland, and Tanzania) and the fifth—UTAP-2 Atlanta—became a flexible mechanism for providing a wide range of technical assistance and other support to PEPFAR countries. After beginning in 2009 as a means to help CDC conduct  surveillance training more efficiently through distance education, UTAP-2 Atlanta grew over the next six and a half years to comprise 11 distinct projects addressing needs and gaps in the HIV response and answering important research questions to inform the response going forward. Find all UTAP and UTAP-2 resources here.