The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has significantly reduced morbidity and mortality through its ability to effectively suppress HIV replication and sustain increases in CD4 cell counts. This has had a major impact on the management of HIV disease in developed nations; however the complexities of managing HAART requires substantial training of caregivers. Wide scale availability of HAART has only recently been introduced to the developing world and there is an urgent need to train individuals at all levels of medical infrastructure for successful implementation of treatment programs.

The most recent UNAIDS report estimate for the number of individuals living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa at the end of 2001 is 28.5 million, representing over 71% of global HIV/AIDS cases. One of the priorities issues at the United Nations Special Session of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS in June 2001 was the development national strategies to strengthen healthcare systems and address factors affecting the provision of HIV-related drugs. Moreover, in 2002, the WHO issued guidelines for antiretroviral treatment in the resource poor setting and added antiretroviral drugs to the essential drugs list.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has issued its first round of grants to 40 programs in 31 countries; many of these programs include plans to start administering antiretroviral therapies.

There are numerous HIV/AIDS treatment training programs ongoing in Africa, however, there is virtually no collaboration or coordination amongst the various programs.

Objectives:

Bring together major academic HIV/AIDS training programs initiated, or soon to be initiated, in Africa
Establish a resource guide of the various training programs (initiated or soon to be initiated) including identification of all key individuals involved, cities and counties, scope of the training (clinicians, nurses, laboratory staff, pharmacists, administrative staff, etc), and if available, the training modules used
Identify what evaluation strategies are being used and make recommendations for training evaluation components
Identify areas suitable for coordination, cooperation and collaboration among the various training programs
Identify gaps in training areas that need to be filled for widespread use of antiretroviral drugs

Expected Outcomes:

A resource guide to be updated continuously to provide up-to-date information on different training programs, training methodologies and contact information
Establishment of collaborations among various training programs, with sharing and adaptation of training programs as necessary
A review of “what works and what doesn’t work”
Establishment of a group to review and evaluate the available training modules
Recommendations regarding what is needed to ensure that healthcare providers in Africa remain current in the field of HIV.

Status:

A workshop was held on September 19-20th, 2003, in Nairobi Kenya (just prior to the ICASA conference).

Project Manager:
Ben Cheng

Project Specific Sponsors:
Pfizer South Africa
Agouron-Pfizer (USA)

Forum for Collaborative HIV Research
Department of Prevention and Community Health
School of Public Health and Health Services

2175 K St NW Ste 700
Washington, DC 20037
Phone: 202 530-2370
Fax: 202 530-3923
info@hivforum.org