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.

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Find out more at cquin.icap.columbia.edu

The Global Health Security Agenda supports medium- and long-term health systems strengthening efforts to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease health threats. The project is funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In collaboration with Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation, ICAP is supporting the COVID-19 response at the country’s epicenter, Freetown, at both the facility and community levels. Through this project, ICAP is establishing a fully equipped triage center at the Sierra Leone Police Hospital and supporting community health workers to conduct screening and provide health talks across three communities.

This initiative is made possible by a generous gift from business leader Bing Zhao.

ICAP is implementing a pilot project to evaluate the efficacy of the Photovoice methodology to identify barriers to measles-containing-vaccine second-dose (MCV2) immunization coverage uptake in an urban setting among health care workers and caregivers of children under-five.

Photovoice is a community-based participatory research methodology which uses participant photography to reflect on specific community challenges through large and small group discussion of captured photographs.

This project is funded by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Sierra Leone.

ICAP has launched a multi-country emergency response training initiative to prepare health care workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 response, funded by Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategies.

The trainings will build the competence and confidence of frontline HCW to safely identify, report and support people with COVID-19, implement effective infection prevention and control (IPC) activities, and serve as a trusted source of reliable information for communities impacted by the pandemic.

In collaboration with the National Infection Prevention and Control Unit at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, ICAP is preparing 380 health care workers to respond to COVID-19 through trainings in infection prevention and control. The training, which uses the national IPC curriculum, will enable health workers to recognize and report cases, prevent infections of healthcare workers and patients, triage care and refer patients, and serve as a trusted community resource. The trainings are conducted by master trainers who previously completed ICAP’s Advanced IPC program.

The Resilient and Responsive Health Systems Initiative supports the strengthening of the primary health care system in Sierra Leone through the provision of health worker trainings in HIV prevention, HIV care and treatment, and maternal and child health. The initiative is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

ICAP is working to enhance childhood immunization linkages between public health units and community health workers to increase uptake of the second routine dose of recommended measles containing vaccine, MCV2. Interventions will help to strengthen integrated defaulter-tracking, community outreach, and demand promotion in order to help reduce dropout between MCV1 and MCV2.

As part of this work, ICAP will also conduct a retrospective review and analysis of trends in monthly administrative vaccination coverage in the periods leading up to the intervention and after the intervention using existing data in the SL DHIS2 platform.

This project is funded by the CDC Foundation.

ICAP conducted a rapid assessment of 11 community care centers across six districts to assess the safety, effectiveness, acceptability, and operational feasibility of the centers, where patients with symptoms suggestive of Ebola received care and support as they awaited diagnosis and transfer to Ebola treatment units or referral for other medical services.

The project was funded by the UK Department for International Development.

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The results of the project were published in The Lancet Global Health.    

ICAP worked with the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation, the World Health Organization, and other partners to design a curriculum for a pilot infection prevention and control certificate training program, adapted for the Sierra Leone context. This project was funded by the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID) at the CDC.    

ICAP provided technical support to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation’s Expanded Program Immunization Directorate to strengthen the implementation of high-impact interventions to improve immunization coverage across Sierra Leone. ICAP provided technical assistance to the national epidemiology program, with a focus on measles vaccine (MCV #2) dropout rates, and supported a formative needs assessment of barriers to immunization follow-up in urban settings.
This project was funded by the CDC’s Global Immunization Division.
Under this award, ICAP additionally supported the implementation of the national Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria in Infants (IPTi) program.

ICAP helped enhance the quality and impact of HIV, Tuberculosis (TB), and TB/HIV services and data for decision making through quality improvement. ICAP also supported the implementation of a multi-site quality improvement project designed to improve infection prevention and control practices.

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Find out more on the Global Technical Assistance project page