Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI)

Programs

North Star Alliance Roadside Wellness Centres

last updated Apr 19, 2013

Overview

Implementing organization: 
North Star Alliance
Implementation Partner(s): 
Ministry of Health, PharmAccess Foundation
Legal Status: 
Public-private partnership
Year Launched: 
2006
Stage: 
Existing/expansion stage
Income Level of Target Population: 
Bottom 20%, 20-60% (lower to lower-middle)

Funding

Primary Source of Funding: 
Donor
Funders: 
Family Health International (FHI), Japanese Embassy, World Food Program

Scale

Personnel Employed: 
10-49
Number of Clients Served: 
117,000 clients in East Africa; 183, 906 people reached across all the sites in their countries of operation
Number of Facilities Operated/Networked: 
By 2011, North Star Alliance had operated in 24 roadside wellness centres across countries of operation
Other Measures of Scale: 
In 2011, 985,157 condoms distributed
Replication: 
The Alliance plans to launch RWCs in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo as well as expand their network in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The Alliance targets to have 20 new Wellness Centers in 11 by 2015
Summary: 

North Star Alliance is a public-private partnership that is establishing a network of roadside health clinics at major truck stops and border crossings in Africa, India and Asia. Wellness Centers offer a practical, low-barrier and low-cost response to the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) among the transport industry.

Program goals/rationale: 

The goal of the North Star Alliance is to provide long distance truck drivers, sex workers and surrounding communities with sustainable access to basic health care and safety.

Key program components: 

North Star Alliance launched its first RWC in Malawi in Southern Africa in 2005. The Alliance has since them expanded its services to East and West Africa. In Kenya, the Alliance has six centers located at borders and truck stops in Burnt Forest, Mai Mahiu, Mlolongo, Mombasa, Namanga and Salgaa. Mombasa was the first centre that was opened in 2009. The centers provide sexual health education, counseling, testing and treatment for drivers and the communities with which they directly interact, including sex workers.

In addition to the RWCs, North Star Alliance North Star offers a full range of services related to the establishment and running of roadside clinics in transport hubs and/or border crossing transport stops. The Alliance works with local implementing partners to source, outfit, supply and staff new centers. The program also works with national/regional transport sectors and health authorities to identify HIV/AIDS hotspots along major transport corridors and to leverage a broader private sector response to HIV/AIDS programming by encouraging other private sector companies (e.g. FMCG, transport, distribution and courier companies) to support the RWCs project financially or in-kind.

Core funding for key non-operational activities for the North Star Alliance is provided by five core partners: The International Transport Workers’ Federation, The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), ORTEC N.V., TNT N.V. and The World Food Programme (WFP) with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands.

The Alliance plans to launch RWCs in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo as well as expand their network in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The Alliance targets to have 20 new Wellness Centers in 11 by 2015.

Program history: 

North Star Alliance launched its first RWC in Malawi in 2005. Operations in Kenya were established in 2009.

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