‘Uganda Cares’—one of AHF’s earliest and most successful global treatment programs—surpasses benchmark of 50,000 adult and pediatric HIV/AIDS patients cared for in its free treatment clinics throughout Uganda
KAMPALA, Uganda - Saturday, May 21st 2011 [ME NewsWire]
(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s ‘Uganda Cares,’ an innovative HIV/AIDS treatment partnership between AHF and the Uganda Ministry of Health (MOH), is honored to announce that it has surpassed a significant milestone in its history and in the fight against AIDS in Africa: Uganda Cares now provides care and services for over 50,000 adult and pediatric HIV/AIDS patients in its free treatment clinics located throughout Uganda. The first Uganda Cares clinic opened in Masaka in February 2002, and the group became the first organization in the country to provide antiretroviral therapy (ART) outside the capital city of Kampala. By March 2003, Uganda Cares was providing care and antiretroviral treatment for 100 patients; in the eight years since, it has dutifully shepherded the program’s growth to the 50,000 patient benchmark. Uganda Cares has since become one of the country’s largest providers of AIDS treatment, and the project was identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS as a best practice model for delivery of ART in 2003.
“On behalf of all of our patients, their families and our dedicated staff in Uganda, words are not enough to thank our Ministry of Health, civil society and district leaders and AIDS Healthcare Foundation for 50,000 lives that have been saved over the past ten years through Uganda Cares,” said Dr. Penninah Iutung Amor,Africa Bureau Chief for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “As we stop to celebrate this remarkable achievement in the coming weeks, we shall also continue to be steadfast in looking to the future to reach—and save—many, many more lives in the years to come.”
“In 2005, we were deeply honored with the presence of Uganda’s First Lady Mama Janet Museveni to help us open and dedicate the Uganda Cares AIDS treatment clinic in the St. Balikuddembe Marketplace, a partnership with their Marketplace Vendors Association,” said Bernard Okongo, MD, Chief of Medicine/Africa for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “Our goal there, as with all our sites, is to bring lifesaving care and AIDS treatment directly to more people throughout Uganda in easy, accessible locations--and what better place than the busiest marketplace in East Africa? It is truly an honor today to celebrate the news that Uganda Cares, through its network of twelve clinics around the country, now provides lifesaving care and services to more than 50,000 people.”
“Reaching the 50,000 patient mark in Uganda is one of AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s proudest achievements. We salute the entire AHF-Uganda Cares team for their outstanding contribution to the health and welfare of the Ugandan people,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “Long before there was any interest and funding for AIDS treatment, AHF-Uganda Cares started to provide free treatment to one hundred patients just to show that it could—and should—be done. The day we dedicated the first clinic in Masaka, First Lady Mama Janet Museveni and I planted a small tree. That little tree is growing into a towering monument of compassion and hope. While there is still a great deal of work to be done, it is worth savoring this accomplishment and to give thanks to all the wonderful people who helped to make it happen. We wish to thank President Museveni for his support from the very beginning of our lifesaving mission, but most importantly, I salute our patients, who placed their faith in us and are now thriving.”
“The march to the 50,000 patient mark has not always been a smooth one, but the one consistent factor has been AHF’s unwavering commitment and ongoing search for creative and workable solutions or alternatives to challenges considered by many others impossible to overcome,” said Dr. Nakawuka Mina,Advocacy and Public Relations Director, East/West Africa Region for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “The belief that lives can be saved as long as everyone plays their part—and actually walking this belief—has seen all of us associated with AHF go through some of the most challenging but rewarding experiences in our quest to serve those less privileged in Uganda. Thank you to all the members of AHF, and in particular, the AHF-Uganda Cares team on the ground, who bear the day-to-day responsibilities and are the face of AHF in Uganda.”
Background on Uganda Cares
In the Uganda Cares model, the Ugandan Ministry of Health provides the physical clinic sites on the grounds of district hospitals, as well as some staffing, laboratory and sub-specialty support. AHF operates the programs, including all clinical management and staffing, and provides significant operational support. And unlike some other non-government organizations providing HIV/AIDS care around the globe, AHF has made and honors a commitment to hire and mentor medical providers and staff from within each country it operates in, including in Uganda. In addition, because of intensive treatment adherence support and follow-up by community-based organizations, Uganda Cares patients have an impressive 98% treatment adherence rate to their antiretroviral drug regimens.
In 2004, AHF developed the “HIV Medic” program, an innovative response to the shortage of healthcare workers in resource-constrained settings. Through this 12-week didactic and practical training course, laypeople gain the skills to become paraprofessional extenders of treatment who provide basic triage and intensive adherence support, and assist in the provision of ART. The HIV Medics are thus able to take on some of the clinical, counseling and administrative responsibilities from nurses and doctors so that the clinical team is able to care for and treat larger numbers of patients in less time. Piloted in Uganda, AHF has since brought this WHO-cited “best practice” task-shifting program to other countries in Africa and Asia.
Additionally, AHF Uganda Cares entered into a partnership with Development Initiatives International (DII) in 2006 to provide care in urban markets in Kampala. The Market Vendors Project clinic is an innovative program that allows market vendors and their families to access care without losing important, productive work hours.
Further, Uganda Cares has seen hundreds of patients become well enough to work but whose productivity is limited by a lack of resources. Recognizing this, AHF developed and in 2009 began its pilot Socio-Economic Empowerment Project (SEEP) that provides financial training and micro-loans to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).
For its HIV Routine Counseling and Testing project, AHF Uganda Cares partners with RTI and runs an HIV Mass Testing program in partnership with districts, NGOs, the Ministry of Health and the Uganda AIDS Commission.
There are currently 33 million people worldwide thought to be living with HIV/AIDS. Of these, only about four million people in the developing world have access to lifesaving antiretroviral AIDS medications. The vast majority of the remaining 29 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide have never been tested for the virus.
‘New Vision’ Newspaper Supplement on AHF Uganda Cares’ 50,000 Patient Milestone in Uganda
To mark its milestone of 50,000 HIV/AIDS patients in care, AHF-Uganda Cares will publish a two-page supplement in the ‘New Vision,’ one of Uganda’s two largest newspapers, highlighting Uganda Cares’ accomplishments over the years. The supplement will run in the paper on Friday, May 20.
In addition, a more formal ceremony and celebration of Uganda Cares will take place in early 2012, when Uganda Cares officially will mark its tenth anniversary of service to the community in Uganda in February 2012.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the largest global AIDS organization. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 160,000 individuals in 26 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. www.aidshealth.org
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Contacts
UGANDA
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Dr. Penny Iutung Amor
Africa Bureau Chief
Kampala, Uganda
+256 414 346 311/258 043
penninah.iutung@aidshealth.org
UNITED STATES
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Ged Kenslea
Communications Director
Los Angeles, CA, USA
+1-323-308-1833 (work)
+1-323-791-5526 (cell)
gedk@aidshealth.org
Lori Yeghiayan
Associate Director of Communications
Los Angeles, CA, USA
+1-323-308-1834 (work)
+1-323-377-4312 (cell)
lori.yeghiayan@aidshealth.org
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