Men And Youth Accessing HIV Testing Services And Other Health Programs

Men And Youth Accessing HIV Testing Services And Other Health Programs (sublink under CATCH)In most parts of the world, health outcomes among youth and men continue to be substantially worse than among the elderly and women. In many societies, men generally enjoy more opportunities, privileges and power than women, yet these multiple advantages do not translate into better health outcomes.Our Health Program at Humana People to People aims at addressing access by men and youth to HIV testing services.

Humana People to People relied on its deep-rooted community involvement in the CATCH model to reach out to groups that are considered ‘not easy to reach’ like the men and youth. Through the leadership of Dikgosi, after finding that men and youth mostly don’t attend kgotla meetings, new avenues were approached. The approach was to accommodate the youth by allowing activities to be carried out in areas that the youth would feel free at, like open spaces and community halls or even school play grounds.

The project working with Dikgosi organized 278 community meetings for men and youth. Similarly, to reach out to the men, the CATCH approach identified key strategic areas where men frequent and made use of those areas to bring forth the health programs through the men. The project team with the local leadership visited to football clubs in the community on a regular basis, this ensured that men themselves created an action that they could implement and own to ensure that they actively participate on issues around health and ultimately have sufficient access to health programs.

The Community also liaised with The Men Sector, to ensure men involvement during community activities. By the end of the year, the project reached out to 11 697 people with health conversation sessions and held 253 campaigns for men and youth.