Total Control of the Epidemic

Background

The Total Control of the Epidemic (TCE) Program was created in the beginning of year 2000 by the Humana People to People, and it was first implemented in Zimbabwe.

The Program was conceived to mobilize people to fight against the epidemic of HIV/AIDS themselves and to support each other in facing the consequences of HIV/AIDS.

TCE is based on the understanding that only people are able to free themselves from the epidemic. Every single person has to be informed, be involved, take a stand, and take action, Area by Area.  

The first TCE Center in Mozambique was established in Boane (Maputo Province) and started in April 2002, followed by two other Centers in Beluluane in 2004 and Machava in 2005. TCE is today in the Provinces of Cabo Delgado (1 area), Nampula (2 areas), Zambezia (1 area), Sofala (5 areas), Manica (8 areas), Maputo (1 area) and Tete (1 area, to start soon) benefiting 1.9 million people.

The TCE Idea

The idea of TCE is to mobilize all people in a community to gain total control of the epidemic - area-by-area, person-by-person. An area is defined by the size of its population: 100,000 people.

One TCE Area consists of 100,000 people. In one Area 50 Field Officers are employed as TCE Field Officers for 3 years. Thus, each Field Officer has the responsibility to reach 2000 people. The 50 Field Officers are trained as counselors and will mobilize and equip individuals and communities with the knowledge, the courage, and the skills to take control of their own situation in the face of the epidemic, and enable people to deal with the consequences of AIDS.

The Field Officers will step by step, neighborhood by neighborhood, person by person, organize, promote, push, counsel and first and foremost talk to each person, again and again, during a period of three years.

The program addresses every single individual. It mobilizes and trains people to start small-scale income generating productions to earn money to care for the sick and the orphaned. It trains youth to remain HIV free, teaches better life skills in the form of improved nutrition and prevention of opportunistic infections, and it provides an overall attention to and mobilization of people’s own resources.

As part of the work in the field, the TCE Field Officers promote Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT), Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission programs (PMTCT), treatments for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI’s), and treatment and care of opportunistic infections.

The TCE program complements and promotes the existing programs and institutions in every area.

Expected Results

The TCE program expects a minimum of 80% of the population in a TCE Area to become TCE compliant in the 3 years it takes to implement the program. These means will have made a clear decision about how the will live a risk free life. These people will have understood how to protect themselves and others from HIV transmission.

Partners

• CNCS
• USAID (NPI)
• USDA
• KENMARE

Reaching community in the rural areas

Working closely together with International Development Instructors

TCE soia restaurant