Living goods is an “Avon-like” network of franchised community health promoters who provide health education and earn a living selling essential health products door-to-door at prices affordable to the poor.
Gold Star Network Kenya (GSN)
Gold Star Network Kenya (GSN)
Not-for-profit
Year launched: 2006Existing or expanding (post-pilot)
Target geography
Target Population
Target income level
- Higher middle-income (60-80%)
Health focus
- Family planning and reproductive health
- HIV/AIDS
- Tuberculosis
CHMI PLUS Status
Profile Completeness Rating
bronze
Monitoring & Evaluation Reporting
Summary
The Gold Star Network (GSN) is a social franchise that offers HIV, TB and reproductive health care services and treatment in 3 Kenyan provinces to employed individuals who are capable of paying for part of their healthcare costs.Key program components
The franchise trains accredited doctors in private clinics, nursing homes, missions, for-profit hospitals, and workplace health centers to provide safe and affordable anti-retroviral therapy (ART) to employed persons and business people who can pay a portion of their healthcare costs. While the network was originally established to provide primarily HIV care and treatment, family planning services, TB case detection/screening, infection control, and prevention with positives services have been added. The providers are accredited and given a certificate with NASCOP (National AIDS and STI Control Programme) serialization.
In addition, Gold Star Network partners with insurance companies in the provision of HIV treatment services, a monthly stipend is paid to community health workers, and clients are linked to telecommunications support for treatment adherence and support.
The Gold Star Network Support and Call Centre also provides clients with information on HIV/AIDS and its management, counsels for risk reduction and promotes the proper use of condoms, and reinforces positive behavior change and the development of new skills to reduce vulnerability and risky behavior. They provide counseling for clients to disclose their status to partners and members of their families, and provide access to family HIV testing and enrollment into care for those infected; promoting adequate nutrition, preventive therapies and adherence to treatment.
The network trouble-shoots HIV/AIDS care and treatment issues that are of immediate concern to the client by counseling on contraceptive and fertility options, assist in tracking referrals, and follows-up on clients defaulting on treatment and returns them to care. They also provide information about GSN services, products, and upcoming events and facilitate linkages between Network providers and clients, mentors and consultants.
Scale
Number of personnel employed:
100 or more
In the past year, has the program scaled by:
Financials
Primary source of funding:
Donor
Additional source(s) of funding:
Donor
Revenue
Funder(s):
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Parent Organizations
Yes, there is a separate organization that manages or implements this program.
- Family Health InternationalNot-for-profit
Related Programs
BlueStar Healthcare Network is a franchise of providers operated by Marie Stopes Uganda (MSU) to scale up coverage of high quality reproductive health services in order to reach the underserved in Uganda.
BlueStar Pilipinas is a Family Planning (FP) franchise run by licensed midwives (1 midwife per clinic) in 200 clinics. PSPI started BlueStar Pilipinas in 2008 to increase accessible and affordable of quality FP services.
The Mahila Swahsta Sewa network is a fractional franchise of 173 health providers in Nepal that provide a variety of family planning/reproductive health and maternal and child care services.
The Blue Star Programme (BSP), a social franchise networking private sector providers, was established in Bangladesh by the Social Marketing Company (SMC) in June 1998 in order to improve access to quality health care services.
