|  Hospital
Program Addresses the HIV-AIDS Crisis
in
Ethiopia
AIMS
News: Posted 6/1/2005
Ethiopia
is home to 10% of the world's total AIDS population.
"Since
the identification of the first AIDS case in Ethiopia
in 1986, the epidemic has been spreading in all segments
of society in both urban and rural areas" (1).
On March 21, 2005, one more step was taken to advance
the care of AIDS patients in Ethiopia: one hospital
in the capital city of Addis Ababa launched a program
for HIV/AIDS patients who canít afford medical
care.
In
2002, the Evangelical Church Fellowship of Ethiopia
(ECFE), which represents 97% of evangelical churches
in the country, asked AIMS to initiate a training program
for HIV/AIDS. "Deborah" (AIMS HIV/AIDS Coordinator)
taught a complete track on HIV/AIDS prevention and care.
The Fellowship adapted the program to the Ethiopian
culture and has used it to train churches throughout
the country.
Deborah
has continued to work with the church network in Ethiopia
to advance AIDS education and care. In January, she
returned to Ethiopia to train 28 individuals in the
capital city of Addis Ababa to train regional churches
to educate others in AIDS prevention and treatment.
During her visit, she spoke to a professor at a university
hospital in Addis to assess the current care programs
that were already in place.
"To
keep the virus from becoming resistant to the drugs,
systems must be in place to help patients achieve at
least 95% adherence to the medication regimens,"
said Deborah. "What we learned was scary. The hospital
had no chart forms that would help doctors prescribe
the drugs with appropriate monitoring, and it had no
connection at all with home care workers, such as we
had just seen, that could help patients take their medications
correctly."
Deborah
extended her stay in Ethiopia to strengthen the hospital
system and its links to the community. During that time,
various church-based, home care programs for HIV/AIDS
joined together to form a network. One individual from
that network joined a task force at the university hospital
for HIV/AIDS. That task force implemented a new program
to provide antiretroviral (ARV) therapy to poor patients
suffering from AIDS who could not otherwise afford the
treatment. On the morning of March 21, 2005, that program
was successfully launched. Please continue to pray for
the HIV/AIDS efforts in Ethiopia and other countries.
(1)
Source: www.unaids.org
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