Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI)

Programs

Fitun Warmline AIDS Hotline

last updated Oct 12, 2012

Overview

Implementing organization: 
Ethiopia's National AIDS Resource Center
Implementation Partner(s): 
Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs; Ethiopia's National HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office; PEPFAR through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; American International Health Alliance's HIV/AIDS Twinning Center;
Legal Status: 
Public-private partnership
Year Launched: 
2008
Stage: 
Existing/expansion stage
Income Level of Target Population: 
All income levels

Funding

Primary Source of Funding: 
Donor
Additional Source(s) of Funding: 
Government
Funders: 
President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Technology

Technology Used: 
Computer › Internet, Phones › Voice
Technology Purpose: 
Extending Geographic Access, Facilitating Patient Communications
Technology Partner(s): 
The American International Health Alliance's HIV/AIDS Twinning Center

Scale

Number of Clients Served: 
Over 400 calls per week
Summary: 

The FITUN Warmline is a toll-free telephone information service devoted to answering questions from health care professionals about HIV/AIDS care and treatment. Health care professionals across Ethiopia can use the FITUN Warmline to get quick, accurate, and up-to-date answers to their questions with a single call

Program goals/rationale: 

While access to antiretrovial treatment has significantly improved in recent years, especially in remote areas of Ethiopia there is still a shortage of experienced HIV-care providers. Health care professionals confront many complex questions about HIV treatment and care. In Ethiopia, limited resources, inadequate communication infrastructure, and a lack of continuing education opportunities often prevent health care professionals from staying up-to-date on the latest information about HIV/AIDS.

Key program components: 

Health care professionals with HIV/AIDS care and treatment questions can contact Fitun Warmline by dialing 932 free of charge from any mobile phone or landline or by submitting a query on the website.

When possible, the Fitun Warmline staff answers questions immediately. For more complex questions, their staff will conduct additional research to produce a reliable and informative answer. A Warmline staff member will then return the call within two hours. When necessary the Warmline will also supply documentation to support the answer provided.

Fitun runs a website functioning as a complementary service to the Warmline by providing direct access to important resources and support materials for health providers; and offering a means to direct queries from health providers to the Fitun team.

The Fitun Warmline also has developed ongoing professional relationships with other telephone call-in services for health care professionals, including the AIDS Information and Treatment Center (ATIC) Uganda, and the National HIV/AIDS Clinicians’ Consultation Center (UCSF) California.

Fitun produces and disseminates informational materials such as flyers, drug information charts, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and job aids.

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