In the five facilities selected for the Kenya pilot, the staff who provide HIV services have been trained to screen for CVD risk factors. Using adapted behavior change materials and job aids, they talk to clients about their medical histories, dietary practices, physical exercise regimes, alcohol and tobacco use, and biological and therapeutic risk factors for CVD. When needed, the providers also make available simple biomedical interventions and referrals to specialized treatment. As well as providing counseling, the providers measure and record client data on body-mass index and blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol levels. They are gathering data that evidences the relationship between HIV infection, ART, and CVD, and they are incorporating what they learn into existing service forms and patient-level information systems.
To ensure the sustainability of the services in Kenya, FHI has engaged the Ministry of Health and the National AIDS and STI Control Programme (NASCOP), including officials at provincial and district levels. FHI's efforts have paid off, since Kenya's National AIDS Strategic Plan III (2010–2013) now calls for the integration of CVD services into HIV programs.
FHI has also established partnerships with the Kenya Cardiac Society and the Kenyan National Heart Foundation, which have helped to develop training modules and job aids and establish a referral network of specialists and facilities that offer specialized CVD care.
After the pilot is evaluated, FHI will disseminate findings globally to help speed the integration of these services and expand CVD prevention and treatment to more people in the general population.
