[afro-nets] Addressing Need to Treat and Prevent HIV

[Larisa Bomlitz <lbomlitz@iceha.org>]

Addressing Need for Trained Healthcare Professionals to Treat
and Prevent HIV
-------------------------------------------------------------

A solution that addresses need for trained human resources to
safely and effectively deliver treat and prevent HIV:

While prices of antiretroviral drugs (ARV) have been lowered
dramatically, the implementation of successful treatment and
prevention programs has been severely hampered by the lack of
trained healthcare professionals capable of carrying the patient
load.

ICEHA's Solution: In order to increase the overall capacity of
national healthcare systems to respond to HIV, ICEHA leverages
the wealth of expertise from resource-rich countries in a way
that is relevant for the resource-poor settings. Our clinical
mentoring program, in which ICEHA volunteer healthcare profes-
sionals transfer their medical expertise, was specifically de-
signed to rapidly scale up the skills of local caregivers in de-
veloping countries. This allows more HIV-infected patients to be
able to receive treatment and HIV-transmissions caused by unsafe
medical practices to be reduced. In the process, the developing
countries gain a sustainable knowledge base that can expand in-
ternally to meet the rising demand for clinical expertise on
HIV/AIDS.

ICEHA's volunteers offer technical assistance in HIV care and
infectious diseases, including medical expertise, training, and
operational assistance. The technical assistance provided allows
developing countries to obtain and / or improve local medical
expertise as well as institutionalize operational systems that
enhance their ability to cope with epidemics such as HIV/AIDS.
Given the multiplier effect of this simple transfer of knowl-
edge, ICEHA's programs offer a high-impact, high leveraged solu-
tion.

ICEHA ensures a consistently high level of quality of instruc-
tion by requiring volunteers to be trained and certified by
ICEHA. ICEHA is the only program to offer this level of consis-
tency amongst its volunteers. Once a volunteer is certified,
s/he will be seconded to a Ministry of Health or individual
clinic in a developing country.

In order to effectively increase access to HIV care and preven-
tion, and in order to improve overall management of infectious
diseases, ICEHA provides technical assistance at two levels:
medical expertise and operational delivery systems.

For more information: http://www.iceha.org/
mailto:info@iceha.org


--
Larisa J Bomlitz, MPH
Communications Manager
International Center for Equal Healthcare Access
Tel.: +1-212-731-4487
mailto:lbomlitz@iceha.org
http://www.iceha.org