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HIV in South
East Europe project
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“Most of the countries in
South East Europe have a low-level HIV epidemic that has unfortunately
translated into low priority not only for local governments but
also for the international community. There have been only a few
international and almost no European-based initiatives for HIV
training in the Balkans. This is why I welcome the HIV Training
and Resource Initiative that has helped us not only in training
physicians, virologists, nurses and patient advocates but also
in raising awareness for the need to improve patient care in the
whole region. Because the HIV epidemic in the majority of countries
seems to be still in an initial early stage this region has a unique
opportunity to sustain a low-level epidemic and to avoid treatment
modalities known to be suboptimal. I hope HIVTRI will be able to
continue its work in the region and personally look very much forward
to this collaboration.”
Prof Josip Begovac (Zagreb, Croatia)
HIV in South East Europe project
In 2006, we were invited to Belgrade, Serbia. The
initial idea was to provide a training there for HIV-treating physicians
in the former Yugoslav republics. Instead, working with local doctors,
patient advocates, ministries of health and colleagues and funders
in the West, an ongoing multi-faceted project was devised to identify,
explore, highlight and overcome obstacles to consistent, high quality
treatment and monitoring in the broader South East Europe region.
A
key element in the project is the understanding that results from
narrow "medicalised" trainings, especially in areas like South
East Europe with long histories of conflict and often bureaucratic
government systems, can be limited. Successful responses to HIV
in the region require more open, more culturally engaging efforts
involving all key stakeholders.
An initial meeting with over 100
participants was held in Belgrade
in May 2007. Doctors from the region attended HIVTRI's Oxford
meeting later that year. The Warsaw
meeting in April 2008 brought nurses from the region to meet with
colleagues throughout Europe for the founding meeting of the European
HIV Nurses Network.
Beyond trainings, HIVTRI
has coordinated the EACS translations
project (with the
participation of leading doctors in the region) to provide local
language translations of the 2007 European AIDS Clinical Society’s
EACS treatment guidelines for HIV, metabolic disease and Hepatitis
B and C co-infection. The translations are especially useful in
this region since English is not a common language for most health
care professionals and patients. That project has evolved into
a broader effort with the EACS guidelines being translated into
several Western and Eastern European languages with additional
impact on Latin America and North Africa.
In 2008 HIVTRI coordinated
a regional meeting on monitoring technologies in Skopje
and a national meeting in Istanbul
for health professionals, patient advocates and government officials.
In May 2009 a second Istanbul
meeting brought delegations of physicians, nurses, patient advocates
and governmental HIV commissioners for all the countries and entities
of the region
with industry representatives and international specialists to
explore those hurdles, such as stigma, drug supply and reimbursement,
constraining health care models, and research obstacles which inhibit
successful responses to HIV and allied infections within the region.
In 2010 we are planning a meeting in Bucharest, Romania on HIV research and resistance in children/adolescents.
This meeting will focus on HIV research and resistance in children and adolescents in the setting of
highly experienced individuals and address issues of resistance and complex HAART.
Immediately following the meeting above, we plan to hold another meeting in Bucharest focusing on HIV nursing issues faced by those
caring for patients with HIV in South East Europe.
Another, more hands-on meeting on HIV and hepatitis laboratory training is scheduled
for Zagreb in late 2010. This meeting will focus on issues for laboratory scientists and clinicians working to diagnose and monitor HIV and viral hepatitis.
Plans are underway for an Athens 2011 joint meeting
with delegations from South East Europe, the Middle East and North
Africa.
For more information
contact
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