Centre for HIV/AIDS Prevention Studies (CHAPS) 5743 views

CHAPS is proud to be a South African public benefit organisation (PBO) and leader of one of the largest voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) scale-up programmes on the African continent. CHAPS takes pride in its pioneering work in VMMC Service Delivery, VMMC Training, HIV Research and VMMC Start-Up Technical Assistance.We have created this page for you as a way for you to get to know us and, more importantly, provide a space for open dialogue and Q&A on the topic of MMC.The CHAPS StoryCHAPS is one of the largest South African non-governmental organisations (NGO) focused on voluntary medical male circumcision as HIV prevention on the African continent. Through its pioneering work in the research and promotion of voluntary medical male circumcision scale-up activities, CHAPS has successfully implemented and disseminated sustainable evidence-based health solutions throughout South Africa and the region.CHAPS was founded in May 2010 By Dr Dino Rech and Dr Dirk Taljaard. The organisation evolved from the Orange Farm research program and team that, in the 5 years prior to 2010, had researched and published extensively around the topic of medical male circumcision. This research and the publications of the Orange Farm team, most notably the randomized controlled trial which demonstrated the 60% protective benefit of medical male circumcision, contributed to the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations in 2007.Drs Taljaard and Rech realized that the unique expertise of the Orange Farm team would be required to successfully assist government and other NGOs in scaling up and rolling out an effective and efficient medical male circumcision program in South Africa. With this in mind, they registered and founded the Centre for HIV and Aids Prevention Studies (CHAPS).The NGO quickly focused on training and capacitating new providers and circumcision teams, specifically in the high volume approaches pioneered in Orange Farm and termed MOVE (Models for Optimizing Volume and Efficiency). The NGO was established with the support of PEPFAR and USAID who continue to fund a large portion of CHAPS to this day.Since CHAPS’ official establishment in 2010, CHAPS has expanded from 1 to 50 clinic sites (46 USAID and 4 Global Fund). In just three years, CHAPS has trained over 2,500 healthcare practitioners in South Africa and its consulting teams have assisted almost every NGO currently offering MMC services to establish their programs.Additionally, in response to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) issuing of the scale-up of voluntary medical male circumcision programs in 14 eastern and southern African countries, Dr Dino Rech, Dr Dirk Taljaard and their team have made significant strides and contributions to the development of guidelines ensuring scale-up safety, quality and efficiency.Goals and objectives:• To help South Africa reach its goal of 80% medical male circumcision coverage by 2016 by assisting in the implementation of South African Government policy of voluntary medical male circumcision through service delivery and technical assistance.• To promote and provide a friendly and convenient environment for males to access medical male circumcision and a variety of other healthcare services.• To provide high quality medical male circumcision training, that is Continuing Professional Development \ (CPD) certified.• To expand the knowledge base through targeted research.The CHAPS Promise:• To treat the patient like we want to be treated at a health facility• To provide service in an honest, caring and responsible manner, with integrity• To support, train and deliver in regard to National Department of Health (NDoH) scale-up of voluntary medical male circumcisionWhat Differentiates Us?CHAPS is a corporate styled NGO. The organisation is an NGO by registration however, it prides itself on a high performance mind-set and corporate styled organisational culture. The organisation aims to be result focused and at every level carefully monitors and measures business unit outputs. CHAPS is currently structured into 4 key business units described below:1. Service Delivery: Providing medical male circumcision and HIV prevention services to men over the age of 10 years, in a variety of high performance specialised public and private facilities.2. Technical Services: Including training and Quality Assurance, providing training to Health Care Professionals on HIV prevention and MMC techniques and practice. This unit also covers and provides internal and external Quality Assurance training and assessments.3. Research: Performing research, publishing and presenting findings on a variety of HIV related topics and materials including medical male circumcision.4. Start-up/Technical Assistance: CHAPS provides consulting services to government, funders and other countries on establishing and scaling up successful MMC programmes and other HIV related services.Through consistent improvements in operational efficiencies, enhanced relationship management at the National, Local Government and Funder levels and a consistent stream of innovation, CHAPS has improved its capacity, sustained medical male circumcision delivery and has tailored a differentiated business model to assist in maintaining and growing the funding base.What Makes Us Efficient?• A blend of skilled and motivated staff including researchers, medical experts, HIV experts, management consults, and skilled trainers• A proudly South African approach to our work and a deep desire to eliminate HIV/AIDS from South Africa and the rest of the continent.• Carefully designed systems and integrated services which allow CHAPS to be flexible and respond quickly to funder and client needs while maintaining a standardised framework allowing consistent delivery of exceptional service and results.Want to learn more? Check out our website!www.chaps.org.za