From 2013 to 2017, FANTA collaborated with the Government of Zambia, partners, and other nutrition stakeholders to integrate nutrition assessment, counseling, and support (NACS) into public health policy and service delivery at the national and district levels, and strengthen the enabling environment for NACS. Focusing on people with HIV and tuberculosis, pregnant and lactating women, and orphans and vulnerable children in the Kitwe District, FANTA and partner projects LIFT, ASSIST, Thrive, as well as PCI, worked on the Kitwe NACS Acceleration activity, which informed scale-up of NACS to other.
FANTA’s technical assistance to Zambia included:
- Supporting the integration of NACS into health service delivery in 27 health care facilities in Kitwe District
- Training and supporting community NACS volunteers in Kitwe District to improve nutrition counseling and adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) with a focus on client self-management
- Evaluating the contribution of NACS to improved ART adherence and retention
- Supporting nutrition advocacy through PROFILES
- Supporting updates of the national Guidelines for Nutrition Care and Support of People Living with HIV and NACS job aids and training materials for facility-based health care providers, as well as training materials for community volunteers
- Working with ASSIST to implement a NACS quality improvement process
- Working with LIFT to map community support services in health facility catchment areas and strengthen referral links between facility-based NACS and community services
FANTA’s activities in Zambia, results, lessons learned, and recommendations are detailed in a final report covering the 2013 – 2017 period.
