Multidisciplinary partnership in international HIV prevention: A coordinated approach in Kenya

The complexities involved in international HIV prevention call for broad multidisciplinary and community-based efforts to address the unique needs and conditions of diverse communities or countries.

Through a partnership created by the HIV/AIDS Twinning Center with funding from the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Kenyan Episcopal Conference-Catholic Secretariat in Nairobi and DePaul University in Chicago have formed a multidisciplinary team to enhance HIV prevention for Kenyan youth. The intervention occurs in urban Nairobi Catholic schools and in rural areas throughout the country. It includes a school-based curriculum targeting youth, ages 10-13, and a radio messaging campaign on a Catholic radio station.

The partnership joins various US and Kenyan academic institutions, a US international non-profit organization, the Kenyan Institute of Education, the Kenyan Catholic Church- Bishops Conference, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- Kenya. Through ongoing active participation, partnership activities draw on the unique strengths and expertise of rural/urban Kenyan community sectors, including teachers, students, religious leaders, parents, public health professionals, and political officials. By creating an equal partnership between both US and Kenyan institutions that involve the voices of multiple sectors, this approach helps to ensure that effective, culturally-appropriate public health programs properly address the complex issues surrounding sustainable community-level HIV prevention.

Sustained, equal partnerships such as this require time and effort to establish and maintain balanced decision-making power and effective group dynamics/communication. International health policy should involve funding for multidisciplinary partnership efforts to enhance public health education and research.