• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

'HIV Medic' Program Trains Africans As Health Workers in Fight Against AIDS

Posted on: Friday, 22 July 2005, 09:01 CDT

LOS ANGELES, July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the US' largest AIDS organization which operates AIDS treatment clinics in the US, Africa, Central America and India, announced its intention to expand its innovative 'HIV Medic' training program to train African lay people as health workers to assist doctors and other health care providers in the fight against AIDS on the hard-hit continent. AHF, under its AHF Global Immunity program, has already completed two HIV Medic training classes in Africa (Uganda) and will conclude its third class with a graduation ceremony July 22nd in Chikankata, Zambia. To date, a total of 75 individuals have undergone the three-month HIV Medic training program that included both classroom and hands- on, workplace experience. Of the initial 55 students, more than 40 have already been deployed under medical supervision to assist in scaling-up ART services in Uganda and are working successfully as HIV Medics in district hospitals, clinics, and NGOs in communities throughout five Districts in Uganda.

"This initial group of HIV Medics serves as a truly shining example of an innovative, yet pragmatic way to help in the rapid scale-up of delivery of life-saving anti-retroviral AIDS treatment in Africa," said Mary Adair, PA-C, [Physician Assistant-Certified] and Director of Training for AHF Global Immunity, and the principal instructor for all three HIV Medics training classes. "These amazing graduates have demonstrated the intellect, skills, commitment and desire to play a pivotal role in treatment expansion throughout Africa. For many, the motivation to help their fellow Africans with HIV/AIDS is also deeply personal -- more than twenty percent of these first student Medics are themselves HIV positive. I am both proud of all our HIV Medics for their achievements, and honored to have had the opportunity to work with, and train them to help in the fight to contain and treat AIDS throughout Africa."

AHF Global Immunity's HIV Medic training program consists of an intensive 12-weeks of training activities. The first 6-weeks are didactic, classroom experience; the second 6-weeks are a clinical component. The initial curriculum was developed by HIV specialists at AIDS Healthcare Foundation/Global Immunity (AHF/GI) USA, physicians in Uganda, and certified by the Ugandan Ministry of Health. Students were recruited from the local population in Uganda, are proficient with English and all have the equivalent of a high school education. Students were comprised of un-employed nurses, local non-governmental organizations (NGO) members and HIV-positive patients on anti-retroviral treatment (ART) and adherent to their medications.

HIV Medics provide the initial screenings of clinic patients with blood draws, counseling, perform complete histories, refer patients to physicians for a physical exam and initiation of ART. They also triage clinic patients, provide adherence counseling, dispense medications, and provide voluntary testing and counseling (VCT).

A survey of UGANDA CARES physicians conducted in December 2004, demonstrated overwhelming support for this cadre of lay-medical personnel. The physicians stated that many more patients where able to be seen and started on ART with the added support of HIV Medics.

"We believe this innovative program offers a practical, hands-on solution to help develop additional skilled human resources to better support the successful scale-up of anti-retroviral therapy in Uganda," added Adair. "The HIV Medic program has the potential to be replicated in many other resource-poor countries where the need for HIV/AIDS care and treatment is great. Currently there are an estimated 40 million HIV positive living people in Sub-Saharan Africa. We simply must adapt and change the current medical systems and be willing to include such trained lay people to assist in delivering anti-retroviral treatment if we are ever able to get a handle on this devastating pandemic."

AIDS Healthcare Foundation

CONTACT: Ged Kenslea, Communications Director of AIDS HealthcareFoundation, +1-323-860-5225, or mobile, +1-323-791-5526

Source: PRNewswire

More News in this Category