Participatory evaluation of counselling, medical and social services of The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) in Uganda

The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) is an indigenous non-governmental organization (NGO) of HIV-infected and affected people in Uganda. TASO provides counselling, social support, medical and nursing care for opportunistic infections at 7 centres affiliated to district hospitals in Uganda. Between 1993 and 1994, the services provided by TASO were evaluated through a participatory approach between staff and clients. TASO counselling services helped clients and their families to cope with HIV and AIDS, with 90.4% of clients revealing their serostatus, and 57.2% reporting consistent use of condoms in the past 3 months. TASO was also the main source of medical care for clients with opportunistic infections in the last 6 months (63.8%). As a result of counselling, over half of the clients (56.9%) made plans for the future and 51.3% wished to make wills. There was a high level of acceptance of people living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs) by families (79%) and the community (76%). Care was provided to PWAs at home mainly by women (86.2%). TASO has demonstrated that individuals and their families are able to live positively with HIV/AIDS. Through counselling, medical care and material support to clients and their families, TASO has effected change in people's attitudes, knowledge and lifestyles. In particular, TASO has demonstrated a strong capacity to overcome four problems that haunt AIDS care in most places: (1) revealing one's HIV-serostatus to relevant others; (2) accepting PWAs in family and community; (3) seeking early treatment; and (4) combining prevention and care. In general, TASO has shown that specialized services to meet AIDS care needs can be added to existing health services at district levels. As a result of the participatory evaluation, a well-accepted monitoring system was established.