Health at Home/Kenya

Health at Home/Kenya is a groundbreaking collective-action initiative coordinated by GBC that is providing home-based HIV/AIDS testing and counseling for two million people in western Kenya. This innovative door-to-door HIV testing model includes community preparation and pre-visits by local mobilizers.

To date, 97% of households in communities reached by the Health at Home/Kenya Impact Initiative have welcomed HIV counselors inside their homes. These remarkably high numbers demonstrate how the initiative is having a tremendous impact on people's health and well-being. More than 3,000 people have been found to be HIV positive and directly connected to treatment programs—on the spot.

On-the-ground implementation of Health at Home/Kenya is being managed by the Eldoret, Kenya-based AMPATH (Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare) program, working closely with the Kenyan government and PEPFAR.

Collective Action Means Greater Impact

This two-year initiative is supported by PEPFAR and GBC member companies. The project is part of a new series of Coalition-organized collective actions known as Impact Initiatives, which mobilize public and private sector partners into dedicated work teams focused on areas of exceptional need, high impact and the potential to create replicable models.

In Kenya, the Health at Home partnership is bringing HIV testing, TB screening and malaria bed nets into the homes of millions of Kenyans in a remote region with difficult access to health care. The initiative is being brought to scale by industry competitors working side-by-side in common cause – serving as a model to be replicated in other AIDS endemic regions of the world.

Participants in the initiative include the Abbott Fund, Accenture, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, CfC Stanbic Bank Kenya (a member of Standard Bank Group), The Coca-Cola Company, Deutsche Post DHL, Pfizer Inc., Premier Medical Corporation, SAB Miller and Standard Chartered Bank.

» Learn more about what each Health at Home/Kenya partner is contributing to the initiative

» Read GBC President and CEO John Tedstrom's remarks at the launch event

Evidence-based initiative based on demonstrated success

GBC President John Tedstrom greets Kenyan PM Raila Odinga

Health at Home/Kenya builds on the results of AMPATH’s successful Kenya door-to-door pilot program where its HIV testing teams working in Mosoriot, Turbo and Mautuma districts, were welcomed into more than 95 percent of homes where more than 80 percent of those eligible agreed to be tested. In addition, trained health workers will provide TB screening, malaria bed nets and de-worming medications.

“We are using the resources, know-how, and technologies of the GBC member companies and combining them with public sector funding and expertise to significantly scale up an HIV testing and treatment model with an outstanding initial success rate,” said John Tedstrom, GBC’s President and CEO. “Not only do we have the opportunity to keep people healthier, but by building on AMPATH’s remarkable model we may finally have the ability to slow down and eventually defeat the AIDS pandemic.”

According to Professor Alloys Orago, Director of Kenya’s National AIDS Control Council, “as many as 70% of Kenyans do not know their HIV status and we must be open to all reasonable approaches to get more people tested so they know their HIV status.”

While traditional community and hospital testing methods may identify a minority of those infected with HIV, AMPATH found that they could greatly increase these numbers by going door-to-door in the communities surrounding their clinics.

U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael E. Ranneberger praised the initiative and said, “Our PEPFAR program is honored to support this work that will contribute so directly both to the Government of Kenya priority of universal knowledge of HIV status as well as enrolling people in care far earlier in the disease process so they stay healthier longer.”

How home-based HIV testing works

In AMPATH’s home-based counseling and testing (HCT) model, the nurse/counselor who enters the home carries hand-held PDA and GPS devices to collect and enter data on family health, record test results and identify the physical location of the household for treatment, education, counseling and data collection follow-up. Data is entered into AMPATH’s medical record system, which is the first and most successful outpatient electronic medical record system in sub-Saharan Africa, and any person identified as HIV-positive during this testing process is immediately given an appointment for follow-up clinical care.

“This initiative will result in hundreds of thousands of people being successfully tested for HIV and, if positive, being immediately referred into care and treatment,” said Dr. Sylvester N. Kimaiyo, AMPATH Program Manager. “We will not win the AIDS battle by waiting for people to come to our clinics, but only by taking HIV testing to people’s homes in Africa. This same model can effectively test and treat millions throughout Africa.”

In addition to reaching HIV-positive people and connecting them with necessary services, the AMPATH program is also helping those who test negative by making them aware of their status and providing information and support so they remain HIV-free.

Expand the Initiative: Opportunities for GBC Members

• The Health at Home approach is highly effective, and is connected to a strong network of support services that ensure long-term sustainability. The implementing partner, AMPATH, has a proven track record, strong management, outstanding execution capabilities, and the infrastructure and relationships to ensure success.
• Members join a partnership in which key stakeholders are already engaged. Those involved include the Kenyan and U.S. governments, and others who will be critical to companies' near- and long-term success in public health.
• Partners will have significant on-the-ground visibility and opportunity. The program offers tremendous professional development experiences for employees, which improve leadership and spur innovation. It also connects partner companies with customers of the future in a very meaningful way.
• Partners are creating a remarkable and innovative new model. The Impact Initiative approach is increasingly recognized as a re-definition of how development-related work should be done. The Coalition is leveraging its strong brand among multilaterals, government, NGOs, service organizations, and others to raise awareness and build sustained support
• Health at Home/Kenya is an exclusive partnership with built-in visibility, not a broad initiative in which partners' voices might get lost. It's backed up by the Coalition's connections, and also a solid communications plan. Communications are being done in conjunction with the Cooney/Waters Group (CWG), a public relations firm with extensive Africa-specific experience. (CWG services are being donated by the Abbott Fund.)
• All partners in Health at Home/Kenya are equally important. It is possible to join the partnership at various levels of commitment.

» For information on joining the partnership, contact Ilze Melngailis, Vice President, Impact Initiatives

» Learn more about GBC's East and Central Africa Office

» Contact us about becoming a GBC member