Drawing upon desk review and analysis of statistical data from 14 countries in the EECA region and triangulated by grantee and key informant interviews, Matahari Global worked with AFI Moldova, to conduct a final evaluation of the Sustainability of Services HIV multi-country grant covering 14 countries in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, funded by The Global Fund from 2019-2021. The project was led by the Alliance for Public Health, in a consortium with the 100% Life (All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH), the Central Asian Association of PLWH, and the Eurasian Key Populations Health Network with the aid from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
The evaluation found, inter alia, that project activities resulted in:
- Reduced ART prices across 6 countries (Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, North Macedonia, the Russian Federation, and Uzbekistan).
- A cumulative increase in domestic funding for HIV prevention and care of USD$36 million.
- Valuable operational research including on self-testing among men who have sex with men and people who use drugs in Georgia, and on pricing and procurement mechanisms of HIV tests in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
- Increased the registration of PLHIV, reduced the testing gap, and increased percentages of PLHIV on ART.
- Programs adapted through COVID-19, with HIV self-testing being provided at mobile COVID-19 vaccination sites (Moldova) as well as increased mobile provision of HIV services across the region.
- An increased evidence base through operational research projects on the acceptability of self-testing among key populations, acceptability of PrEP, and on socio-demographic and behavioural data of trans people.