The workplace VCT and ART uptake project (WVUP)
Overview:
A previous HEARD study showed that companies in Southern Africa that had made considerable investment in setting up workplace HIV and AIDS ‘health management’ programmes – including provision of ART – had yet to see a ‘return’ in the form of substantial and growing numbers of workers who needed treatment enrolling in, and adhering to, ART programmes. Furthermore, there has been virtually no research to determine and assess the actual reasons.
Objectives:
• To provide new knowledge on reasons for low uptake of VCT and ART services in workplace settings, and to estimate the associated economic costs.
• To show how to increase VCT and ARV uptake in workplace settings on the basis of improved practical interventions, and to estimate the associated economic costs and benefits.
• To develop an academic educational component: a Master’s level pharmaco-economics course, with a view to offering an accredited course through the Schools of Economics, Pharmacy and Medicine at UKZN.
Methodological approach:
An intervention designed to improve the participation of HIV positive workers in a company ART programme on the basis of baseline research, and also in the combination of the disciplines of economics and psychology to achieve the project’s aims.