In 2002 FDA approved the first rapid HIV test using blood drawn from a finger stick and granted permission to use it outside the laboratory, promoting fast, widespread adoption.1

Other News In 2002

UNAIDS announces that adult women now constitute roughly half of all global HIV/AIDS cases.2

The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria begins disseminating grants.3

HRSA reports that each year, CARE Act-funded medical and support services reach 533,000 people infected or affected by HIV, who rely on these resources for some or all of their needs.4

2002

CARE Act Expertise is Used to Fight Epidemic Abroad

In 2002 HRSA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established the International Training and Education Center on HIV, known as I-TECH. The goal for I-TECH was to capture lessons learned over 2 decades of administering 11 U.S.-based AIDS Education and Training Centers and to disseminate those learnings to organizations in the developing world.

I-TECH was designed to assist more than a dozen countries that were hardest hit by the epidemic with establishing self-sustaining health care worker training systems. Although it is not a CARE Act program, I-TECH is a shining example of how high-level expertise acquired through CARE Act implementation has been used to further HIV/AIDS treatment efforts worldwide.

Some Products of I-TECH “Know How”

As part of its efforts in the Caribbean, I-TECH has created a series of 13 short video scenarios designed to be used during HIV/AIDS training for health workers at all levels. Scenarios are designed to prompt a discussion about common situations in Caribbean health care settings where HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination may occur and can be prevented.

I-TECH held a 5-day training for University of Namibia nursing faculty from two university campuses; the training focused on building skills and teaching physical examinations of people with HIV/AIDS.

I-TECH Mentoring Program Provides Health, Hope

An I-TECH mentor sent to South Africa in 2007 spent 1 month visiting clinics and hospitals with an Eastern Cape Regional Training Centre physician. At one hospital, they noticed that the tuberculosis (TB) and HIV patients were placed in the same ward, regardless of whether the HIV patient was admitted for TB. The mentor then discussed with hospital staff the infection-control issues involved with placing HIV patients without symptoms of active TB with active TB patients. This discussion raised staff understanding of the issues and led them to take steps to change the system.

Photograph(s)

Photograph © See Change, LLC, courtesy of the Brooklyn Hospital Center’s Program for AIDS Treatment and Health (PATH) Center.

Sources

1,2,3 Global HIV/AIDS Timeline, Kaiser Family Foundation.
4 Keeping Time: Social and Governmental Developments in HIV, AIDS ACTION.