15 Zambians Complete Training in AHF Program to Train 'HIV Medics' for Country's AIDS Fight

Training allows graduates to train classes of 'HIV Medics' - treatment extenders who will work in community HIV/ART clinics to perform routine, but time-consuming tasks such as taking a patient's blood pressure and medical history, adherence counseling, and patient tracking for those ost to follow-up, freeing up valuable time for Zambian doctors, clinical officers and nurses to see and treat more HIV/AIDS patients

LUKASA, Zambia, July 9, 2010 - Graduation ceremonies will be held Saturday, July 10th in Lukasa for 15
Zambian health care professionals from several districts throughout the
country who have completed an educational training program administered by
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (www.aidshealth.org/ ) (AHF). This will
enable the graduates to train classes of HIV Medics to work in the country's
growing fight against HIV/AIDS. Each graduate is currently a Clinical Officer
working within the Ministry of Health. These dedicated practitioners have
completed this course in hopes of improving their own skills and then being
able to share those skills with lay professionals within their own
communities to better serve the need of those living with HIV/AIDS. AHF's HIV
Medic training program is an innovative approach by AHF to address the urgent
human resource crisis and need for more AIDS care providers in Africa and
elsewhere in the developing world. This is the largest class of Training of
Trainers - for the HIV Medics - that AHF has conducted in any country to
date.

    WHAT:   Graduation of Clinical Officers - Training of Trainers for HIV
            Medics Program

    WHEN:   Saturday, July 10th 2010 Time: 12:00 pm

    WHERE:  Gonde Lodge, Chelstone,  Lukasa, ZAMBIA

    WHO:    Graduates of AHF's Training of Trainers program
            Keynote Speaker: Elizabeth Maliwa, Zambian Ministry of Health,
            District AIDS Coordinator
            Mary Adair, PA-C, Director of Task Shifting Programs for AIDS
            Healthcare Foundation and
            Principal Instructor of the Training of Trainers program
            Dr. Chibale Sakala, Medical Director, AHF Zambia
            Hambweka S. Munkombwe, HIV Medic Program Coordinator

"Each of these students will now be able to go back to their home regions
of the country and conduct training classes to educate and expand the pool of
HIV Medics working throughout Zambia," said Mary Adair, PA-C, Director of
Task Shifting Programs for AIDS Healthcare Foundation and Principal
Instructor of the Training of Trainers program. "Over the past several years,
AHF has worked closely with the Ministry of Health to sustain and adapt the
HIV Medics program to the specific needs in Zambia. These graduates - many of
whom have worked with HIV Medics in the past - will serve as Clinical
Officers and be able to oversee and instruct classes of HIV Medics through
their six weeks of classroom training and six weeks of training in the field.
As a result, health care providers in Zambia will be able to care for more
HIV/AIDS patients in a comprehensive, yet more cost effective manner."

HIV Medics are trained to take histories, perform limited physical
examinations, and appropriately refer sick patients to the doctor. They are
also taught to test for HIV/AIDS, assess patients for side effects, perform
triage and vital signs, counsel on adherence to ART, and to educate about
medications prescribed by the physician. The students receive six weeks of
didactic lectures and six weeks of clinical clerkships. The first two weeks
of clinical clerkships are in the classroom learning to assess patient
histories, do basic physical examinations, and finger pricking skills. The
remaining four weeks are spent on rotations at primary care, inpatient and
community health care facilities. To date, AHF has conducted six HIV Medics
training classes in countries including Uganda, Vietnam, India and Zambia.

AHF's first undertaking in Zambia came about in 2004 when it officially
launched and dedicated the Salvation Army - AIDS Healthcare Foundation Muka
Buumi ("Mother of Life" in Tonga) anti-retroviral therapy (ART) clinic at the
Chikankata Hospital located in Mazabuka District, about two hours southwest
of Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Since then, AHF has conducted numerous HIV
Medics training programs in the country, and has worked closely on projects
with both the Zambian Ministry of Health, the Church Health Association of
Zambia (CHAZ) and other partners. At present, AHF-supported treatment clinics
in Zambia are treating over 15,000 HIV/AIDS patients.

In the coming months, AHF will also open its first AHF-run AIDS treatment
clinic in Zambia - in Lukasa, the capital, a move that will enable more
Zambians to get medical care and access to lifesaving antiretroviral
treatment.

HIV/AIDS in Zambia

Zambia has a national HIV prevalence rate of approximately 17 percent
among adults ages 15 to 49. The primary modes of HIV transmission are through
heterosexual sex and mother-to-child transmission. HIV prevalence rates vary
considerably within the country. Infection rates are highest in cities and
towns along major transportation routes and lower in rural areas with low
population density. While Zambia's national prevalence rate remains high and
shows no sign of declining, the country has been noted for its significant
increases in antiretroviral treatment (ART) access.

With over one million Zambians living with HIV/AIDS and 200,000 of these
persons requiring ART, the Government of the Republic of Zambia has
prioritized making ART available to all Zambians in need. AHF's newly-trained
Clinical Officers, and the HIV Medics they train and who will be deployed
under medical supervision to assist in scaling-up ART services - may go a
long way to help address this need for treatment in Zambia.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the largest global AIDS organization.
AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 138,000
individuals in 23 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin
America/Caribbean, the Asia Pacific Region and Eastern Europe.
www.aidshealth.org

In Zambia: Mary Adair, PA-C, mobile: +1-323-791-9600, mary.adair at aidshealth.org or Hambweka S. Munkombwe, mobile: +260-977-443197, hambweka.munkombwe at aidshealth.org; In the U.S.: Ged Kenslea, +1-323-308-1833, mobile +1-323-791-5526, gedk at aidshealth.org