In the light of the above, it is proposed to initiate a community-based, combined HIV prevention, care and support intervention in the Honde Valley and neighbouring areas of the Mutasa District of rural Manicaland. The proposed intervention will ultimately cover an area of approximately 2,750 square kilometres, comprising a population of around 170,000 people. The project will be a collaborative programme promoted by Family AIDS Caring Trust (FACT) and the Biomedical Research and Training Institute (BRTI) and involving local community and church groups and local Ministry of Health personnel. FACT is a Zimbabwean NGO based in Mutare, the provincial capital of Manicaland, and has a well-deserved reputation as an organization which has pioneered innovative community-based HIV control activities in Zimbabwe. Its' established projects include prevention and support programmes in both urban and rural areas of the province. FACT will be responsible for behavioural (including condom promotion and distribution activities and community-based promotion of STD services), support and care aspects of the programme. BRTI is a relatively recently-formed organization based in Harare with strong links with the University of Zimbabwe Medical School, the Blair Research Institute and other parts of the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare. BRTI has considerable expertise in STD diagnostic methods and treatment regimes and would be responsible for this aspect of the intervention and evaluation, in close co-operation with the Ministry of Health in Manicaland. It serves a similar function in established HIV control programmes elsewhere in Zimbabwe. BRTI would also act as employer for staff engaged to carry out the fieldwork for the intervention evaluation.