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“Thanks for a great ‘cutting
edge’ meeting. I found the content very relevant to my current
practice.”
Martin Hourihan, London, UK
(Oxford training, July 1007)
About the HIV Training and
Resource Initiative (HIVTRI)
Twenty-five years of research, development, activism and patient
engagement have provided an effective range of therapies and monitoring
for HIV and the majority of related conditions. Where once there
was little hope for most people living with HIV, today real progress
has been made to ensure good, reliable treatment, monitoring and
access.
There is now an urgent need to educate the growing
number of HIV healthcare providers in the proper use of these treatments
and diagnostics. Accurate, reliable and easy-to-understand community
information resources are equally important in developing an informed
HIV-positive patient community. Obstacles to consistent high quality
treatment and monitoring need to be identified and overcome.
For
this reason, in 2006, Dr Mike Youle, a leading HIV clinician, researcher
and educator (Royal Free Centre for HIV Medicine, London, UK) and
Ben Collins, formerly of Project Inform, an American HIV treatment
information and advocacy organisation, launched a project to provide
peer-to-peer training and resources to medical professionals and
treatment activists facing critical HIV treatment issues.
The aim
of HIVTRI is to work with allies in the healthcare and patient
communities, international agencies and pharmaceutical industry
to build successful responses to HIV and related conditions.
HIVTRI initiates and micro-finances projects and trainings; supplies
locally relevant resources; and facilitates international innovation
in the provision of care for people living with HIV and related
conditions.
HIVTRI maintains strong ties with its treatment
information partner, HIV i-Base and its work is endorsed by EACS
(European AIDS Clinical Society) and EATG (European AIDS Treatment
Group). Armadillo Medical Communications facilitates some of HIVTRI’s
activities.
In January of 2007 it formally established itself
as The HIV Training and Resource Initiative (HIVTRI), a UK-based,
internationally focused, not-for-profit Community Interest Company,
a new type of social enterprise that is a flexible alternative
to a charity. (For more information about CICs please see http://en.wikipedia.org.)
In
little over one and one-half years HIVTRI have launched a wide-ranging
and effective programme of activities for HIV-treating physicians
and health care professionals. More than 300 doctors and health
care professionals throughout Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle
East and Africa have accessed our trainings.
Our South East Europe project
has spearheaded a new spirit of collaboration across the region.
Our translation of the EACS European HIV treatment guidelines into
Serbian and its subsequent adoption by the Serbian Ministry of
Health and National AIDS commission as their new national treatment
guidelines have provided the basis of guidance towards effective
and appropriate treatment for individuals with HIV in that region.
For
details of activities please see Upcoming
Programmes and Completed
Projects.
We hope you agree the HIV Training and Resource
Initiative is worthy of ongoing and increasing support.
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Mike Youle
Director, HIVTRI |
Ben Collins
Project Manager, HIVTRI |
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