What We Are Doing

  Save a Life: It doesn't seem possible that it is over 10 years since the discovery that antiretroviral drugs can save the lives of babies born to HIV infected mothers. Yet, less than 10% of HIV-infected pregnant women receive any treatment to save the life of their infants.  This means that as many as 1,800 infants are born each day with an ultimately fatal HIV infection.  A single dose of nevirapine, costing less than $1, given to a mother and infant at the time of delivery can reduce infection by 50%.  Combinations of antiretroviral drugs when feasible, given for longer periods of time during pregnancy, are even more potent. (read more…) Rapid HIV tests determine quickly whether an expecting mother is HIV positive.  (read more…) Cotrimoxazole, an antibiotic, at $6 per year, helps prevent opportunistic infections, decrease episodes of malaria infection, prevents malaria and helps to keep mothers and children healthier, longer. (read more…)

Our Save Life program is funded through individual and faith-based donations. It is a streamlined program where we are able to rapidly respond to underserved programs that need drugs now and cannot wait.  We have provided nevirapine to over 85,000 HIV infected pregnant women and their infants and over 18,000 rapid HIV tests to identify pregnant who are infected and need treatment.  Distribution has been to over 70 hospitals and clinics throughout the world. As increased funds become available we expand prevention and care to include HIV rapid testing kits, combination antiretroviral drugs to further reduce HIV transmission to infants, cotrimoxazole, and education and training of health care and community workers to expand the reach these programs.

From a volunteer

“We had the opportunity to visit Bakin-Kogi, a village with a clinic started by Hauwa Kandima, a local woman who attended the Birth Attendant Training Workshop in March. 

“The chief and village elders met with us and then presented us with a picture of the first baby whose life had been saved  using nevirapine from the Global Strategies’ work shop... Here, in a village where two-thirds of the people are infected with HIV, is a child the entire village celebrates — a child with a future.”

There is only one opportunity to prevent HIV infection. Once an infant is infected it cannot be reversed.

Hope Walks: Global Strategies most recent program was established to raise awareness and support for orphans and vulnerable children  particularly those affected by the HIV epidemic. 

The first Hope Walks event was held at the University of California, Berkeley in October of 2006 with the support of First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, their college ministry “FoCUS” and with funding from the Public Broadcasting Service/Frontline.  Over 600 participants of all ages turned out for the walk and together they raised over $80,000 - an amount that far exceeded our expectations for this pilot event. With organizations in 8 new cities from around the country showing interest in hosting a walk in 2007, we look forward to further supporting orphan programs around the world, and educating children and their families here at home about the global orphan crisis. 

Find out more about Hope Walks  www.hopewalks.org.

"You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to the children."from the Gospel of Matthew

Hope Walks is a program of Global Strategies for HIV Prevention working in partnership with non-government and faith-based organizations to support the needs of orphans and vulnerable children throughout the developing world.

Education and Training: .

Global Strategies for HIV Prevention utilizes a three pronged approach for education and training in HIV prevention and care to help meet a critical shortage of health care workers (insert). We work closely with community, faith based and non government organizations in planning and implementation.

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We use:

1. Workshops as the spring board for education and training
2. Training Centers to insure sustainable education and training

3. Development and distribution of educational materials to expand  access to training manuals and relevant up-to-date information

Workshops: Three workshops were conducted in the past 12 months to train mid-level healthcare workers in HIV prevention and care - the Dominican Republic (see Dominican Republic report…), Goma, Congo (see Goma update …), Monrovia, Liberia, (see Liberia report…) Each of the workshops were conducted in the country language – Spanish, French or English.

Workshops are pivotal for initiating training and are directed toward the education and training needs of healthcare workers in resource poor areas.  Approximately 50 participants attend each workshop depending on local needs. Attendees, who are identified by our local partners, include physicians, laboratory technicians, traditional birth attendants, and community and faith based leaders. Topics include epidemiology, voluntary testing and counseling, prevention of HIV infection, treatment of HIV and opportunistic infections, breast-feeding and nutrition, mother-to-child-HIV transmission, universal precautions and prophylaxis to prevent HIV infection following accidental inoculation or sexual abuse and rape. (see sample workshop agenda…)

Workshops are typically four to five days in length. In addition to teaching and distribution of reference materials, participants discuss issues specific to their level of health care, cultural issues and spiritual values. Workshops are typically four to five days in length. In addition to teaching and distribution of reference materials, participants discuss issues specific to their level of health care, cultural issues and spiritual values.

Our vision is to train local healthcare providers who in turn, train others, and expand HIV prevention and care programs.

Training Centers:

Two of our previous workshop locations are now in the process of becoming Training Centers, a step toward insuring sustainable and reliable education and training of additional health care workers throughout the year.

 Several years ago we conducted a Training Workshop on Prevention of Mother to Child HIV Transmission for traditional birth attendants at Faith Alive clinic in Jos, Nigeria, Now, with the support of Bayside Church in Granite Bay, California, there is a new three-story hospital and training center to educate and train health care workers from surrounding areas. Hundreds of individuals attended an opening ceremony.  Participation of individuals from Bayside Church brought critically needed funding as well as volunteers, physicians, nurses, accountants, an architect and teachers to Nigeria – individuals all interested in meeting the needs of those infected with HIV and preventing its spread. Faith Alive is the first of our training centers, bringing HIV education and care to the community.  Working together with the Faith Alive staff, the health, psychosocial and spiritual needs of those suffering from HIV are being met. Without adequate numbers of trained healthcare workers, community and spiritual leaders, HIV prevention in care efforts will fail.

Our newest training center is under construction in Goma, Eastern Congo. The official language is French. Goma has suffered from many calamities including rebel attacks and a volcanic eruption. (read about Goma, Congo…) Global Strategies is in partnership with Heal Africa, a Faith Based hospital working in Goma. Christ Presbyterian Church, in Edina, MN has also joined us in supporting HEAL Africa with a commitment of over $800,000 for a training center, an HIV counseling and testing center, and programs to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV. They have also organized volunteers to focus on developing resources to train physicians, nurses, community workers, technicians and pastors and improve the care of widows and orphans and vulnerable children, working along side small local faith based organizations. The goal is to provide a high quality education and training resource for Eastern Congo to meet the needs of those suffering from HIV and the effects of war.

Programs to Support the Needs of Our Partners

Health care workers are a critical resource for providing compassionate care for HIV infected individuals. They dedicate their lives to assisting the poor and needy – they too need to be protected from HIV infection. If HIV infected, they need treatment to stay healthy, support their families and care for patients. Many of our partners lack resources to respond to the needs of health care workers in resource poor areas. We believe that supporting our health care workers is integral to our compassionate response to request from out partners. Two programs have been developed:

1) Adopt a Health Care Worker

2) Post Exposure Prophylaxis.

Adopt a Health Care Worker:  

“Today the biggest limiting factor for AIDS treatment in the developing world is the paucity of trained health care workers.” Washington Post editorial by Holly Burkhalter, U.S. Policy Director, Physicians for Human Rights

(read more ....)

While there are many reasons for a global shortage of health care workers, one of the leading reasons is that many health care workers are themselves infected with HIV. Through the Adopt a Health Care Worker program, Global Strategies, Bayside Church of Granite Bay, CA, Faith Alive Clinic, and Cameroon Baptist Convention have partnered to provide antiretroviral therapy for health care workers. But this worthy start is only the first step of a long journey. At present, Africa is thought to have only one-third of the one million health care workers the continent needs to combat the blight of HIV. We need many more churches and individuals to “adopt” health care workers. The process is simple and the cost is remarkably low. All it takes is a commitment to provide a staff member with antiretroviral drugs to treat HIV, cotimoxazole (to prevent opportunistic infections), and anti-tuberculosis medication (if needed) for two years. (read more…) Using generic fixed-dose drug combinations, the cost for each health care worker is less than $250 a year. (read more…) After two years, the hope is that the health care workers with improved health will have developed income to help offset their medication costs, freeing up space in the program for other HIV infected health care workers. This is a good start, but we need more “Good Samaritans.”

Postexposure Prophylaxis

It is acknowledged that many healthcare workers are themselves at risk of infection as they care for HIV infected individuals.  Losing even one healthcare worker to HIV infection if they were accidentally infected by a needle from an HIV-infected patient would be tragic.  HIV infection following accidental inoculation can be prevented with the same drugs that prevent infection of infants born to an HIV infected mothers. HIV infection can also be prevented in a child or young woman following rape or sexual abuse.  A combination of two drugs, zidovudine and lamivudine, given twice a day for four weeks is provided for prevention. (read more…)

This year we distributed 120 postexposure prophylaxis kits to hospitals and clinics in the area surrounding Goma, Congo.  Each kit has detailed instructions on when to use the drugs and how to determine their effectiveness. Our goal is to ensure that every hospital, clinic and orphan program has sufficient numbers of postexposure prophylaxis kits to protect the health care workers and children and women from HIV infection.

Partnerships

In fall 2005, Global Strategies began a partnership with HEAL Africa (read more...), a faith-based organization located in Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Goma is situated at the epicenter of the 9 year war taking place in eastern Congo, and in turn has become home to thousands of refugees. (Read more…) With support from Global Strategies, HEAL Africa began the first Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) program in Goma and was asked by the National AIDS Program in DR Congo to become the oversight for PMTCT programs in the region. As we move toward 2007, Global Strategies and HEAL Africa are expanding that effort with the support of Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina, MN and working to begin the first HIV related programs in the areas around Goma,  areas that have been the most severely impacted by the war.(see our newsletter...)  

The year, 2007 brought additional partnerships to our efforts in the Congo. The Clinton Foundation (read more...) has started to supply antiretroviral drugs to 300 children under the care of HEAL Africa. This program made possible by the delivery of a CD4 count machine from Global Strategies a crucial piece of equipment that helps to monitor the progress of patients receiving antiretroviral treatment. In addition, Global Strategies will begin a nutrition program with funds from First Presbyterian Church Berkeley, CA, to supply food to the children on treatment and other members of their families. Nutrition is a crucial part of helping a person tolerate the treatment for HIV, and in an area like Goma, with severe food shortages, supplying food is as critical to recovery as bringing in the medicines themselves.

Additional Up-To-Date News and Information on

www.womenchildrenhiv.org

The goal of this site is to contribute to an improvement in the scale and quality of international HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment programs for women and children by increasing access to authoritative HIV/AIDS information.The Web site is a collaboration between Global Strategies for HIV Prevention, the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and the Center for HIV Information, University of California San Francisco. Dr. Arthur J Ammann MD, President of Global Strategies for HIV Prevention serves as Pediatric Editor.