What is Men Taking Action™?
HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age worldwide, as well as a main contributor to infant and child morbidity and mortality. Male participation in antenatal services can be part of the solution. The Men Taking Action (MTA) program encourages men to act as partners in the health of their partners and families. The program encourages positive behavior change and modeling within the community, leveraging traditional and community leaders to serve as role models. The program directly addresses male attitudes and practices that can prevent women from seeking HIV and maternal health services, such as attending antenatal clinics and accessing prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services, including essential antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.
In Action: Zambia
CMMB Zambia launched MTA in December 2006. During its four years, the program worked in 31 Church Health Institutions (CHIs) in Zambia, thanks to a $2.6 million New Partners Initiative (NPI) cooperative agreement from USAID. CMMB worked in collaboration with the Churches Health Association of Zambia (CHAZ) and its facilities to implement the program. The overall goal of MTA in Zambia was to boost the uptake of HIV prevention services, including HIV counseling and testing and PMTCT. Key achievements included:
- Nearly 15,000 men were tested for HIV and received their results, more than 70 percent approached vs. a starting average of 11.5 percent;
- 42,302 first-time attendees of ANC tested and received their results, 92 percent versus a starting average of 60 percent opting to test;
- 15,642 pregnant couples tested and received their results together, 36 percent versus a starting average of 3 percent;
- All women who tested HIV positive through the program (3,183) accessed ARVs for PMTCT, compared to a starting average of 70 percent.
- Nearly 21,000 men were reached with MTA SBCC messages.
Given its measurable success, MTA is currently being adapted to a new HIV prevention program with the Academy for Educational Development (AED), the Zambian-Led Prevention Initiative (ZPI), where CMMB will implement MTA in North Western Province and serve as technical lead in PMTCT and MTA. CMMB also partnered with Boston University to implement MTA in Southern Province beginning in FY11.
In Action: South Africa
Recognizing that men may influence actions taken by their wives, female partners and children, CMMB’s CDC-funded, five-year Men Taking Action (MTA) program aggressively targets men for education on the prevention of HIV/AIDS transmission in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Building on the success of the MTA program in Zambia, MTA South Africa began as a male-focused home-based counseling and testing program (HBHCT) in the Eastern Cape Province in partnership with the Diocese of Port Elizabeth. CMMB has pioneered this community-based methodology, serving as one of the first NGOs offering HBCT in rural areas. CMMB’s home-based care and counseling and testing field workers work with men as partners in their family’s health, encouraging them to get themselves and their family tested for HIV. In FY2010 and FY11, the program tested and counseled 11,660 men and 6,518 women for HIV, and reached more than 22,000 men and women with evidenced-based HIV prevention messages in South Africa.
News from the Field:
Men Taking Action Transforms a Father in Zambia
