Global Enhancing Care Initiative Develops Comprehensive Framework To Improve HIV/AIDS Care in Resource-Poor Countries

Paris (PROTEXT) - Local Experts Join Together to Improve theLevels of Care and Provide Long-Term, Sustainable Solutions. A new nine-point AIDS care framework which outlines acomprehensive approach to enhance HIV/AIDS care within resource-poor regions is now available through the Enhancing CareInitiative (ECI). The ECI AIDS Care Framework has been designedto assist countries in developing programs to analyze the impactof AIDS in their region and create concrete improvements in AIDScare for those affected by the disease. During a roundtable today at The Fourth InternationalConference on Home and Community Care for Persons Living with HIVin Paris, France, representatives from Brazil, Senegal, SouthAfrica and Thailand presented local findings from their countriesor provinces and examined the nine-point framework, whichaddresses epidemiology and availability of medical services, costand economics of care, and ethics and human rights in relation tothe provision of improved care for those living with HIV. Participants in the Enhancing Care Initiative have highlightedthe needs of their own countries and also agreed on the need toprioritize HIV/AIDS care around the world. "We need to mobilizeour communities and ensure that the campaign against HIV isactive in every sector of our society and that every householdand every individual is involved in the fight against HIV andAIDS," said Dr. Zweli Mkhize, minister of health, Kwa Zulu-Natal,South Africa. Dr. Mkhize's comments reflected the overallagreement by ECI participants that countries must work togetherto prioritize HIV/AIDS care. "In Senegal," said Professor Souleymane Mboup, president ofthe Senegalese Committee for AIDS Prevention in Dakar and teamleader for ECI in Senegal, "we are delighted that we will be ableto incorporate the improvements to HIV clinical care that haveresulted from the ECI team evaluation into our future nationalAIDS care planning. The Senegal ECI team will enable us toenhance the clinical healthcare efforts considerably." During the Paris roundtable, each country team was able toclearly identify its particular care needs. The participants thendescribed specific projects undertaken to date within the ECIframework, highlighting programs and results. The ECI will usethis information to prepare an outline for specific care problemsanticipated in each country for the year 2000 and to establishpriorities for implementing solutions by the year 2005. This roundtable is part of the promotion, development andconsultative process that is integral to The Enhancing CareInitiative, a team approach to the HIV/AIDS pandemic which hasdeveloped individualized models for resource- challengedcountries. The Initiative includes participation by communitygroups, governmental and intergovernmental organizations,international bodies such as the WHO, UNAIDS, ICASO, and theInternational HIV Alliance, as well as local non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs) and AIDS service organizations (ASOs). TheEnhancing Care Initiative, which began in 1998, is coordinated bythe Harvard AIDS Institute and the Francois-Bagnoud Center forHealth and Human Rights of the Harvard School of Public Healthand sponsored by The Merck Company Foundation. ECI PREMISE: LOCAL CHALLENGES REQUIRE LOCAL EXPERTISE Designed as a five-year program, The Enhancing Care Initiativefacilitates the development of multidisciplinary teams whichresearch needs and set specific priorities to enhance HIV care ona regional basis in Latin America, Africa and Asia, the areas ofthe world hardest hit by HIV. The ECI AIDS Care Framework promotes the formation of a teamconsisting of a combination of local specialists, includingpeople living with and affected by HIV, and experts drawn fromareas of clinical care and medical research, epidemiology, socialbehavior, human rights, political science, economics and healthplanning, as well as government and policy making. Thisinterdisciplinary team works together to first evaluate theclinical and community care needs and then propose feasible andcost-effective improvements particular to its own region orcountry. "We are extremely pleased with the results so far," commentedDr. Richard Marlink, executive director of the Harvard AIDSInstitute and one of the designers and key team members of theEnhancing Care Initiative. "We are delighted that the ECI AIDSCare Framework is proving a broad model to create locallyapplicable improvements in care. While the AIDS care problems andsolutions will vary from team to team, we are hopeful that thislarge team approach may also apply in other care settings to helpdevelop sustainable programs within resource-constrainedcountries." The Enhancing Care Initiative has developed AIDS Care Teams infour regions of the world and is expanding its reach through theuse of the ECI AIDS Care Framework. The philosophy of the ECI isbased on the belief that concrete and practical improvements inHIV/AIDS care can and must be developed. The effectiveimprovement in care of persons living with HIV/AIDS in vastlydifferent settings requires the participation of local expertswho best understand the unique challenges of their region. Assuch, the heart of the ECI lies with the ECI partner AIDS CareTeams -- formed, comprised of, and lead by nationals of thatregion. Information about the Enhancing Care Initiative and the nine-point AIDS Care Framework can be found at:http://www.eci.harvard.edu ots Original Text Service: EnhancingCare Initiative Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact:Michael Broder of Harvard AIDS Institute, +617-432-4121, orKelley P. Dougherty of Merck & Co., +908-423-3112 Web site:http://www.merck.com Web site: http://www.eci.harvard.edu

Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug"PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to bepublished under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial serviceproviding distribution of press releases from clients, who areidentified in the text of Protext reports and who bear fullresponsibility for their contents.

PROTEXT