A joint initiative of the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) and The Change Foundation (TCF), OHAfrica was founded in 2004 with the goal of supporting the introduction of antiretroviral (ARV) drug treatment programs for people living with HIV/AIDS in the African country of Lesotho, a nation with the third highest HIV prevalence rate in the world.

OHAfrica works in direct partnership with the Lesotho Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Lesotho Government’s STI, HIV & AIDS Directorate in supporting the implementation of the country’s national HIV/AIDS Strategy. OHAfrica is directly involved in developing and assisting in the roll-out of Lesotho’s ARV drug treatment program in the district of Leribe.

OHAfrica supports a small team of Canadian health care professionals based at the first government HIV/AIDS treatment clinic in Lesotho—the Tšepong "Place of Hope" Clinic in Leribe. The OHAfrica team works alongside local staff at the Tšepong Clinic and in surrounding primary care centres, providing care to patients with HIV and training local health care providers working in HIV/AIDS treatment and testing.

OHAfrica’s success depends on strong partnerships and collaboration with the Lesotho Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, with Lesotho’s health care professionals and community health workers and with the many other organizations working in HIV/AIDS. OHAfrica has established strong relationships with local community programs and self-help groups that support and educate people living with HIV/AIDS. OHAfrica also works in collaboration with international agencies such as the William J. Clinton Foundation, UNICEF, the UN Theme Group on HIV/AIDS and the World Health Organization.

In Canada, OHAfrica continues to be supported by the OHA and TCF and since the project began in 2004, OHAfrica has established relationships and partnerships with other institutions including: The Masai Centre for Local, Regional and Global Health, RTC Health, Rotary Club of Collingwood, University of Toronto Centre for International Health, Queen’s University, the University of Guelph, St. Michael’s Hospital, the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario and the College of Family Physicians of Canada. OHAfrica’s success also depends on the contributions of individual citizens and corporate donations.

The Ontario Hospital Association and The Change Foundation

A major public voice in health care, the OHA advocates on behalf of Ontario’s public hospitals for a sustainable health care system in Ontario. TCF is the OHA’s affiliated health research foundation with a mandate to improve health and health care delivery: TCF supported OHAfrica with an initial three-year $1.5 million grant.