The South Africa HIV ATTC held a two-day event consisting of an SBIRT Scale-Up policy meeting and intensive training workshop. The policy meeting was requested by the National Department of Health and was hosted by the South Africa HIV ATTC in the city Cape Town. The South Africa HIV ATTC’s collaboration with multiple agencies in SBIRT framework development led to excitement from national stakeholders to observe and disseminate the training. The initial framework design was a collaborative creation aimed at the integration and scale-up of evidence-based SBIRT in mental health and HIV health programming. The intention of this meeting was to use scientific research to support the ongoing review of policy and implementation of SBIRT in South Africa.
Day 1 was a meeting with national stakeholders to discuss policy level possibilities related to SBIRT and how it impacts adherence support, retention, and viral suppression in people living with HIV.
Day 2 was an intensive SBIRT training course stimulated by an initial request for such a training by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). This training was attended by health professionals from multiple organisations across South Africa. An overview of screening tools and Motivational Interviewing occurred, followed by breakaway sessions where SBIRT could be applied to realistic scenarios.
