St Mary Laboratory and Free Standing HIV Centre According to 2007 the single point estimate by Ministry of Health of Ethiopia and National HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office, the national adult HIV prevalence and incidence was 2.4% and 0.29% respectively in 2010, a low level generalized epidemic, with an estimated 1.2 million people living with HIV in the country. This prevalence estimate does not, however, tell the full story of the epidemic because the majority of infections occur in urban settings. Urban Adult HIV prevalence and incidence was 7.7% and 2.04% respectively in 2010 with an estimated 62% of total PLHIV in the country residing in urban areas, while rural HIV prevalence was 0.9% in 2010, which accounts for 38% of total PLHIV population in the nation. Among urban settings, the epidemic varies greatly from 2.4% in Somali region to 9.9% in Tigray, 10.7% in Amhara and 10.8% in Afar regions. 

Rural HIV epidemic also varies significantly from region to region with rural HIV prevalence ranging from 0.4% in Somali region to 1.5% in Amhara region. Addis Ababa and four regions: Amhara, Tigray, Oromia, and SNNPR account for 93.4% of the total PLHAs population in the country.  In 2010, at national level, the number of HIV positive pregnant women was estimated to be 90,311 and about 14,276 babies were expected to be born HIV positive. In 2010, there were an estimated 79,871 children less than 15 years’ old living with HIV, out of which 26,053 needed ART. 

In Addis Ababa, in 2010, an estimated of 210,306 people are living with HIV, the prevalence rate being 9.2%.  Besides, there were an estimated of 22,214 new HIV infections and 5,948 annual deaths in 2009. There are 70,097 HIV positive people in need of Antiretroviral Treatment as of 2010. 
 
Having considered the above context and making brief additional analysis in the selected target area, DoC Addis has identified the following strategic priorities:

1.	Reduce sexual transmission of HIV in the targeted community by strengthening behavioral change programs, interventions and curricula for different groups with a focus on those more vulnerable to and at higher risk of HIV infection. Different modules like stop AIDS, faithful house and youth action kit will be used targeting the most at risk people including young people and young women..

2.	 Reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the targeted community through strengthening the capacity of behavioral change communication agents at all levels on community mobilization for PMTCT service utilization. Encouraging male involvement in PMTCT program will also be considered.

3.	Enable people living with HIV and AIDS to lead healthy and productive lives in the targeted area by iimproving the income of people living with HIV through involvement in income generating activities, improving ART adherence rate, promoting hygiene and sanitation, nutritional and other health care practices. All this will be done through adequate involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS.

4.	Enable orphans and vulnerable children to develop and thrive in a safe and healthy environment in the targeted community. Through:-Involving children, family, and community in OVC program development, implementation and evaluation; addressing and satisfying the individual needs of children and their families by conducting assessments and developing care plans for each child and family; building the capacity of children and caregivers, especially those regularly in contact with children, to provide emotional and social support (such as peer-to-peer, teacher-to-child, or parent-to-child). 
•	Sensitizing communities on the right of children to protection. 
•	Making market-driven economic strengthening opportunities and services available and accessible to families. 
5.	Improve access to quality laboratory service  by providing general laboratory services based on the needs of the target community; providing HIV counseling and testing service and improve VCT service quality; providing CD4 count and ART-related biochemistry laboratory tests; creating strong referral and counter referral linkage with health care facilities.