New Institute to Boost Aids Campaign in Uganda

The institute will treat up to 300 patients daily and train 250 physicians across Africa each year
 

By ESTHER NAKKAZI
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

AN INFECTIOUS Diseases Institute (IDI) dedicated to treating people with HIV/Aids using advanced medicines and techniques and training medical practitioners was officially opened at Makerere University, Kampala, last week.

The IDI will provide enhanced HIV care, educate and train HIV healthcare providers and monitor HIV therapy through its diagnostic laboratory. It will also support diagnosis of opportunistic infections, tropical and sexually transmitted diseases. The institute, a public-private partnership, will treat up to 300 patients daily and will train 250 physicians across Africa each year in HIV/Aids care.

"The training programme focuses on equipping healthcare providers to deliver antiretroviral therapy, comprehensive care and establish excellence in clinical practice. Investing in research provides hope for a better future," said the IDI director, Prof Keith McAdam.

President Yoweri Museveni, opening the centre said IDI would offer focused training to African health workers for HIV/Aids management. He praised the partnership, saying that combined efforts would overcome the virus. 

The institute is a partnership between pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc, Makerere University, the Academic Alliance Foundation for Aids Care and Prevention in Africa (AACCP), Pangaea Global Aids Foundation and the Infectious Disease Society of America.

Pfizer has already contributed over $15 million for setting up IDI and its programmes and has a commitment to provide over $24 million in funding between 2001 and 2009.

"As Pfizer, we're committed to improving the lives of people through partnerships such as this one. The training initiatives undertaken here will ultimately result in improved care for millions of patients," said Pfizer chairman and CEO Dr Hank McKinnell.

 AACCP president Prof Merle Sande, "IDI reflects true partnerships between academicians in North America and Africa and the public-private sectors who have come together to combat the most threatening disease to attack mankind.

"We have focused on strengthening an existing African institution by enhancing its capacity to train healthcare providers and to conduct research. By integrating African and Western models of care, we are developing new models of HIV/Aids care for the African population," he said. 

Over 250 doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals from 13 African countries have taken the institute’s pilot one-month's course while over 8,000 HIV/Aids patients have been treated since the institute's inception in 2002.

Post-training follow-ups show that each of the graduates has trained 10 physicians in the latest treatment for HIV/Aids.

The Academic Alliance has established a fellowship in infectious diseases programme for young physicians and will receive a World Bank grant of $3.5 million to fund additional training for physicians and teachers from Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania. 

The institute is the first major infrastructure component to be added to Makerere University’s medical school in 35 years. Pangaea Global Aids Foundation ensured that its construction was completed on time and within the budget. 

Pangaea has partnered with the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation to assist South Africa, Rwanda and the Bahamas in the development and implementation of countrywide plans for providing HIV/Aids care and treatment.

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