Description/Activities: Ethiopia took a systematic and deliberate approach to six-month MMS. With support from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ICAP worked with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and six Regional Health Bureaus to conduct a successful pilot of the model at six hospitals in 2017.
What Makes the Intervention Unique/Different: While many countries have shifted to three-month MMS, very few provide six months’ worth of ART at one visit. Ethiopia is the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to implement six-month MMS at scale and has learned lessons that can inform other countries as they adopt this approach.
Impact Data: Following the pilot project, FMOH implemented the six-month MMS approach nationwide. 1,086 health facilities are implementing the model. As of January 2019, 176,925 clients were enrolled. This is 79% of all eligible clients on ART in Ethiopia. Approximately 20% of clients offered MMS declined to participate.
Reference/Website: https://icap.columbia.edu/in-ethiopia-a-focus-on-multi-month-art-scripting-at-scale-pays-off/