Course Postgraduate Diploma in HIV/AIDS Management

Complete all six compulsory subjects across three learning stages over a planned one-year full-time study route. Each stage contains two subjects. Stage 1 develops the evidence base and social context. Stage 2 addresses policy and coordinated services. Stage 3 combines leadership, financing, research and evaluation in an integrated capstone dossier. Assessment is continuous through individual applied assignments, case analysis and presentations. This management qualification does not confer clinical registration or prescribing authority.

Stage 1: Evidence and social context

1. HIV Epidemiology and the Southern African Response. Interpret the evidence used to plan and review HIV programmes. Examine patterns of HIV, the distinction between HIV infection and AIDS, and the social and economic consequences of the epidemic. Compare South African and Zimbabwean responses while recognising differences in data sources, populations and service systems.
2. Social Determinants, Gender and Community Responses. Analyse how social conditions and institutional practices shape HIV vulnerability and access to services. Examine stigma, gender inequality and barriers experienced by different communities without treating any population as homogeneous. Develop respectful, participatory responses with people living with HIV and community organisations.

Stage 2: Policy and coordinated services

1. HIV Policy, Human Rights and Workplace Practice. Translate HIV-policy principles into practical organisational arrangements. Compare relevant national approaches and examine confidentiality, consent, non-discrimination and accountability. Distinguish policy analysis from legal advice and identify when specialist review is required.
2. HIV Prevention, Treatment and Care Programme Coordination. Plan services supporting prevention, timely linkage to care and continuity of treatment. Examine person-centred service arrangements, referral pathways and the integration of HIV services with other health and social support. The focus is programme coordination, with clinical decisions remaining within qualified practitioners’ scope.

Stage 3: Programme leadership and evaluation

1. Leadership, Financing and Sustainable HIV Programmes. Manage the people, resources and partnerships needed for a sustainable HIV response. Connect ethical leadership and workforce support with realistic budgets, implementation plans and arrangements for maintaining essential services during funding or operational disruption.
2. Applied Research, Monitoring and Evaluation of HIV Programmes. Develop a feasible research and evaluation approach for an HIV programme. Connect a clear programme theory with appropriate measures, ethical data collection and careful interpretation. Integrate the preceding subjects in an evaluation-ready improvement proposal.