Makadon HJ, Gill LJ, Barve R, Regan MA, Khorakiwala N; International Conference on AIDS (15th : 2004 : Bangkok, Thailand).

Int Conf AIDS. 2004 Jul 11-16; 15: abstract no. MoPeE4232.

Wockhardt HMI HIV/AIDS Education and Research Foundation (WHARF), Mumbai, India

Issues: HIV/AIDS is now recognized as a potentially devastating problem in India. There has been a slow but dramatic development of national efforts to expand prevention, decrease mother-to-child transmission, and increase antiretroviral treatment efforts over the past several years. Nevertheless, capacity building among health care providers at the grass roots level has lagged with respect to education to support efforts for the prevention, detection, and treatment of HIV infection. Description: After a six month period of study among diverse community leaders and people living with HIV/AIDS in 2002, Wockhardt Life Sciences, a private corporation in India, and Harvard Medical International (HMI), the international division of Harvard Medical School, established the Wockhardt HMI HIV/AIDS Education and Research Foundation (WHARF) to develop and implement educational programs on HIV prevention and care for health care professionals. Faculty from HMI and Mumbai developed curriculum materials and programs to train trainers, as well as programs aimed directly at front line health care providers. Over 1000 providers, including physicians, nurses, and counselors, participated in programs through December 2003. Quarterly updates are provided to program alumni. The program content is evaluated at each session. Alumni sessions are used to assess long term impact. Lessons learned: NGOs can be formed to work at the grass roots level to rapidly train a large number of health care providers about the prevention, care, and treatment of patients with HIV/AIDS. Recommendations: WHARF is an effective means to educate health care providers in India. Similar models will enhance efforts to build programs for HIV prevention and treatment in resource limited countries.

Publication Types:

• Meeting Abstracts

Keywords:

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• Child
• HIV Infections
• HIV Seropositivity
• Health Education
• Health Personnel
• Humans
• India
• Teaching
• education
• prevention & control
• therapy

Other ID:

• GWAIDS0036296

UI: 102280512

From Meeting Abstracts