Background
Worldwide, 40 million people are infected with HIV/AIDS. Africa has been hit hardest, with infection rates in some countries as high as 40 percent of the population. AIDS has become the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa, with more than 28 million people infected. AIDS is also prevalent in many other areas of the world, including Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia. 8,000 people die every day from AIDS.
The UN and many other organizations recognize HIV/AIDS as a global problem that must be fought. The goal is to halt and begin to reverse the spread of this disease by 2015. Work in Brazil, Senegal, Thailand, and Uganda shows that the spread of HIV can be stemmed.
To keep economies functioning and people employed, companies must be proactive about protecting and supporting their employees. Some companies are implementing programs for employees and their families which include training, counseling, voluntary testing, and treatment. Employers also are helping with distribution of AIDS drugs.
How can the CEI program help?
CEI’s HIV/AIDS program is designed for health care administrators, care providers, government officials responsible for health care policies and ministries of health, and human resource managers at companies. The program will give them new insights into services and practices used in the United States. It will open their eyes to new possibilities. With this information, they will be in a good position to increase the effectiveness of AIDS prevention and treatment programs in their country and company. They will discover ways to increase prevention awareness and to keep infected people productive and employed longer.
Topics to be covered
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Infection prevention
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Effective awareness programs
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How to change attitudes toward AIDS and people infected with it.
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Protocols and methodological guidelines
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Improved diagnostics and screening, including blood donations
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Treatment
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Ways to make drugs available and affordable
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How social services can help
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Patient rehabilitation
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Monitoring infections and program awareness
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Workplace programs, interventions
Expected Benefits
By meeting with health care providers, industry experts, public health officials, social service organizations, and others, participants will discover which practices and procedures work well and which don’t This will enable them to design and upgrade their systems, provide improved health care and support to their population, and keep people employed longer. This not only will help individuals but also will keep them better able to support their families and their local economies and reduce the drain on public assistance programs.
Where will participants visit?
The CEI mission will visit first-class medical facilities, public health officials and providers, and companies and nonprofits with cutting-edge approaches. These will be within a day’s drive of CEI’s hub city, Cincinnati.
Specific sites visited could include:
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First-class medical facilities and clinics
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Family practice, specialty medical offices
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Community organizations
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Public health departments
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Businesses with innovative employee support programs
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University research centers
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Pharmacies and drug distributors
These visits will give participants a broad picture of successful approaches to AIDS prevention, awareness, and treatment as well as business and social service efforts addressing HIV/AIDS.