EC Joint Action "Improving Quality in HIV Prevention"
The EC Joint Action "Improving Quality in HIV Prevention" officially started on 1 March 2013.
WHO/Europe is a collaborating partner in this new three-year Joint Action to increase the effectiveness of HIV prevention using practical Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Improvement (QI) tools developed in collaboration with WHO/Europe.
The objectives of the Joint Action are to:
- train at least 60 experts in participating Member States to provide capacity building and technical assistance to programs/projects applying QA/QI tools adapted to HIV prevention;
- ensure that experts attain the knowledge and skills for providing technical support to those using QA/QI;
- liaise with participating programs and projects in support of at least 80 applications of QA/QI tools and to collect and analyse data on the process and results;
- develop, adopt and disseminate a ‘Charter for Quality in HIV Prevention’ with agreed quality principles and criteria for assessment;
- improve the quality of programs and projects;
- produce recommended policy statements and strategic actions for incorporating QA/QI into HIV prevention strategies, policies and action plans at the European, regional and Member State levels.
The Joint Action will support the implementation of the "European Action Plan for HIV/AIDS 2012-2015" priority area 3.4 "to improve the quality of HIV services, by defining and funding quality improvement systems in national HIV strategies and action plans, promoting participatory quality development in HIV prevention, treatment, care and support and advocating for programmes to be designed in accordance with the expectations of clients, recognizing the particular vulnerabilities of key populations at higher risk in the European Region".
