Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) was established in 2003 after a fatal scabies skin disease outbreak in critically endangered mountain gorillas in Uganda was traced back to rural communities who have inadequate healthcare. In 2007, CTPH started an integrated Population, Health and Environment (PHE) program to promote biodiversity conservation at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP). CTPH conducts behavior change communication through couple peer education using a community volunteer model of Village Health and Conservation Teams (VHCTs) promoting hygiene and sanitation, infectious disease prevention and control including disease referrals, family planning including administering injectables, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, gorilla and forest conservation. Outcomes include a significant increase in new family planning users, disease referrals, acquisition of handwashing facilities, male involvement in family planning and women involvement in conservation; as well as reduced gorilla disease incidences, reduced human and wildlife conflict and improved community attitudes to conservation. The model is currently being scaled up to eastern Uganda (Mt. Elgon region) and Democratic Republic of Congo (Virungas region) through training of 182 new VHCTs in 2016, sustained with Village Saving and Loan Associations (VSLAs). Mt. Elgon National Park was selected as the first non-gorilla protected area to test the model with the goal of scaling the impact through partnerships with governments and the Ministry of Health community health worker structure. In the SDG era, CTPH 's integrated conservation, health and development model is replicable in biodiversity hot spots; and lessons learnt from the first year of scale-up will inform similar programs in the AGL region.
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