Moussa gives advice at a HIV screening session

06/2010: Moussa, a community health volunteer, is proud of his work with the APROFEM centre in Ségou, where he leads the fight against HIV and AIDS in his community.

The centre was created in 2002 with financial support from Plan, and for several years now Moussa has been helping community members to deal with the effects of the disease.

A champion of early screening

Well respected by his colleagues, Moussa leads APROFEM (Association for the Promotion of Women and Children in Mali) in its programme of screenings, advice and care for HIV and AIDS and related illnesses. The centre prioritises early HIV/AIDS screenings, as Moussa explains:

“Early screenings allow for the fastest care for those who are HIV positive. Over the past year, we have tested 689 people. Amongst them, 16 people tested positive and were given anti-retroviral drugs. These slow the progression of the disease. Thus, HIV positive people don’t develop AIDS [so quickly], and can protect themselves, enjoy a better quality of life and protect their spouses and other people.”

Number of cases has fallen

Plan Mali’s HIV and AIDS programme is run in partnership with local non-governmental organisations, like APROFEM. Plan’s strategy includes providing screening facilities in isolated rural areas, something which government structures and other NGOs have since adopted too.

Moussa sharing the centre's experiences with Plan colleagues

Madame Coulibaly, coordinator of Plan Mali’s HIV and AIDS programme, said: “Our programme, which also covers the cercles of Kangaba and Baroueli [as well as Ségou] thanks to finance from Plan Ireland, has been able to support screening centres over the past 3 years. We have contributed to the reduction of the national average of infected people which has fallen from 1.7% in 2001 to 1.3% in 2006.”

Keep fighting

Community awareness raising on HIV and AIDS is also important: “I really think that the radio programmes that I run mean that the population places its trust in me,” Moussa says.

He is determined to keep fighting the disease, adding: “we will continue to do the most that we can.”

APROFEM has just signed a new 11 month contract financed by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and will continue to work for the community in partnership with Plan.