Khomanani: Reaching Out, Scaling Up

This conference aimed to provide strategic direction for the delivery of care and support services through HCBC programmes in South Africa, and also to focus on strengthening their impact. An overview of the specific aims, objectives and expected outputs are contained in the section "The HCBC Conference at a glance" on page 5 of the programme. Debates and presentations were structured around four tracks, and focused on issues that have been identified as critical barriers to developing HCBC services. The tracks of the conference were: Context for Care, Continuum of Care, Partners for Care, and Living Positively.

The conference also aimed to adopt a rights-based approach in the provision of information, education and support to families who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

The conference objectives were to:

• Promote the exchange of lessons learned and information on strategies to improve quality of life and reduce the burden of illness on people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs), including the chronically ill, and their families;
• Identify and analyse the cultural, economic, political, ethical, social, legal and policy related factors that promote or threaten the sustainability of HCBC;
• Strengthen networking structures and partnerships which impact on the scope and effectiveness of HCBC programmes and activities;
• Explore national, provincial and local government and partner responses towards a continuum of comprehensive care to successfully mitigate the impact of chronic diseases;
• Advocate for the greater involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS and promote positive living through HCBC; and
• Address challenges faced by HCBC implementation and scaling up of best practices.

Click here for the full executive sumarry in PDF format.