HIV/AIDS

Global Health: A Historic and Momentous Movement

November 2011 by Maurice Middleberg
TAGS: AIDS-free Generation, HIV/AIDS, PMTCT, Voluntary Male Circumcision

This post was originally published on the IntraHealth International blog.

I just returned from listeMaurice Middlebergning to a brilliant and inspiring speech by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Secretary Clinton traced the history of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, from the dark days of the 1980s, when little to nothing was understood about the disease and how to fight it, to today, when, armed with the tools made possible by science, great strides are being made in bringing HIV/AIDS under control. As she correctly pointed out, United States (US) leadership and investment have been at the forefront every step of the way. Investments in science led to understanding the virus, developing treatment, and building evidence-based prevention programs. The result has been a marked decline in the incidence of the disease, millions of infections prevented, and millions under treatment. Many institutions and people have contributed to this remarkable change. That said, the contribution of the US government to the fight against HIV/AIDS has been essential to the progress achieved. The US contribution to the cause of fighting HIV/AIDS, and global health more generally, has been a pillar of US leadership in the world. Read more »

Making Work Safe for Health Workers

April 2011 by Kate Tulenko
TAGS: Health Workers, HIV/AIDS, HR Management

Kate TulenkoDuring my medical residency, several of my friends stuck themselves with used needles while caring for patients. I remember their anxiety as they waited for the blood tests to arrive that indicated whether they were at risk for HIV, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C. More than a decade later, I now have an opportunity to help improve working conditions for health workers worldwide.

Exposure to infection
April 28 is World Day for Safety and Health at Work. We need to think about the health of the three million health workers who receive injuries that expose them to blood-borne pathogens—three million to hepatitis B and C and 170,000 to HIV. These injuries may result in 15,000 hepatitis C, 70,000 hepatitis B, and 500 HIV infections. More than 90% of these infections occur in developing countries both due to the higher incidences of these diseases and the lack of training, protective equipment, and proper disposal receptacles. Read more »

Global Health Workforce: A Household Name

January 2011 by Adam Buzzacco
TAGS: Health Workers, HIV/AIDS, Human Resources for Health

Adam BuzzaccoIt’s impossible to forget a woman caring for five kids, in a cockroach-infested plywood house, in 90-degree weather. She has no access to clean water or adequate health care.

I was fortunate as a teenager to have experienced the health and quality of life conditions in the developing world firsthand. On a 10-day school trip to Matamoros, Mexico, this image was ingrained in my mind and in the minds of 12 other high school students. (In case you’re unaware of Matamoros’s location, it’s barely five miles from the US border.)

Public opinions
Diseases and issues such as HIV and AIDS, malaria, malnutrition, and access to clean water are often cited as the biggest public health concerns for developing nations. While these issues are rightfully at the center of the public and government discourse, I wanted to see how the global health workforce stacked up against these other widely recognized problems. Read more »

Deploying an Integrated Human Resources for Health Approach to Achieving the Millennium Development Goals

October 2010 by Sara Pacqué-Margolis and Crystal Ng
TAGS: Global Health Initiative, Health Workers, HIV/AIDS, Millennium Development Goals

Sara Pacque-MargolisThe global health workforce crisis demands a strategic investment in a long-term solution. Given the limited human resources for health (HRH) available in many countries, an integrated, systems-based approach is necessary if countries are to achieve all the health-related Millennium Development Goals.

The Center for Global Development’s (CGD’s) recent report argues that donors must evolve from the emergency approach required to scale up vertical HIV/AIDS programs to a more sustainable approach that plans for, develops, deploys, and retains a health workforce responsive to the population as a whole.

A call to donors
Based on research conducted in Mozambique, Uganda, and Zambia, the CGD report examined how AIDS programs leveraged health workers, their financial and programmatic inputs into health worker training and deployment, and the effects of these actions on health services. Read more »

Preventing AIDS Deaths Need Not Be a Fight: A Health Systems Approach

August 2010 by Sara Pacqué-Margolis
TAGS: Global Health, Health Systems Strengthening, Health Workers, HIV/AIDS

In the Washington Post article “Rage, panic in AIDS fight,” David Brown alleges that the goal of health systems strengthening is “hard-to-define.” In fact, it is not.

Whatever the disease or health sector priority—be it HIV/AIDS, malaria, family planning, labor and delivery, or pneumonia—six components of the health system must be functioning and integrated in order for health impacts to be maximized. These components are:

  • Service delivery
  • Medical products, vaccines, and technology
  • Financing
  • Health information systems
  • Leadership and governance
  • The health workforce—arguably most important of all.
Read more »

Good News about Training More Health Workers—But Will They Be Absorbed?

August 2010 by James McCaffery
TAGS: Education and Training, Health Systems Strengthening, Health Workers, HIV/AIDS, HR Management

Amid the continuing health workforce crisis, I think it’s important to acknowledge the positive steps that have occurred. In terms of donor support, one such area involves commitments to provide funding and support at the country level to train new health workers.

Training new health workers: two positive steps
For example, in 2008 the Japan International Cooperation Agency announced a major program to train some 100,000 local health workers to tackle one of Africa’s most serious problems, the unacceptably high mortality and sickness rate among pregnant women, new mothers, and their children. Read more »

Bottlenecks: Addressing the AIDS Epidemic through Increasing Human Resources for Health

July 2010 by Nola Bower-Smith
TAGS: AIDS2010, Global Health, Health Workers, HIV/AIDS, Human Resources for Health

This post was originally published on the IntraHealth International blog.

Nola Bower-SmithIn a world where over 33 million people are living with AIDS it is imperative to address the human resources for health (HRH) crisis. The critical questions and solutions generated by this discussion are a step towards a world without AIDS.

I had the opportunity to attend a panel at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna that focused on strategies for the HRH crisis. The panelists agreed that HRH is a critical problem, but one without an easy or quick solution. The lack of human resources, especially in areas most affected by HIV and AIDS, has made combating the disease a challenging and complex problem. Read more »

Reflections on Health Workers at AIDS 2010

July 2010 by Sarah Dwyer
TAGS: Advocacy, AIDS2010, Health Workers, HIV/AIDS, Human Resources for Health, Sarah Dwyer

Sarah DwyerThe main hallway at the AIDS 2010 conference is a barrage of banners, notices, and signs—yet a few things jump out and demand to be noticed. One large photo shows an erect penis with a bejeweled hand grasping its base. Posters ask, “Will you be spanked between sessions?”

These got my attention. AIDS activists are good at such tactics, and they need to be—it’s a matter of life and death.

Death and dying are what many health workers confront every day, noted Yogan Pillay of South Africa’s National Department of Health. Showing some sobering data, he pointed out that “if we don’t take care of health workers, they will not take care of patients.” And in a session on supporting health workers to deliver care, Masamine Jimba of the University of Tokyo described how the Japanese character for “busy” literally means “losing heart.” Read more »

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