A group of health workers (picture above), clutching certificates of specialised HIV care training, emerged from the first convocation of HIV medics in New Delhi today (June 8, 2009). The young medics aim to do their bit in addressing the acute shortage of trained healthcare workers in a country currently housing over 2.4 million people living with HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS global report, 2008).
They underwent a three-month orientation into HIV/AIDS care giving jointly organised by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the largest provider of specialised HIV medical care in the US, and the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The paraprofessionals will now assist clinicians in providing antiretroviral therapy (ART) to patients. Additionally, they will provide initial patient screenings, complete patient histories and refer patients to physicians for physical exams and initiation of ART.
The special care givers will draw blood, dispense medications and provide medication adherence counselling and HIV testing. This would eventually free up physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals for more complex tasks and enable them to see more patients.
The idea is to contribute to the overall goal of increasing the number of people receiving ART and improving the quality of care.
The HIV Medic training has been designed for students who have passed high school with no prior medical training or experience. The training programme has 6 weeks of class-room learning and 6 weeks of hands-on experience. They get a basic grounding in anatomy & physiology, common diseases in various organ systems, sexually transmitted infections and opportunistic infections of HIV, TB, the natural history and life cycle of HIV, mechanisms of anti-retroviral drugs, side effects or toxicity, HIV in pregnancy, paediatrics, counseling, adherence and social and ethical aspects of HIVAIDS.
AHF has had success with similar programmes in Uganda, Zambia and Rwanda, training local youth as healthcare workers in the fight against HIV/AIDS. It’s a good start in India with 30 energetic youths every year. Hope AHF can replicate its success here.
More info here.