Zanzibar Highlights !!!
Click here to view presentations and notes of EA IeDEA Executive Committee meeting
held last May 4-5, 2010 in Zanzibar or click the Presentations link above
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The AIDS
pandemic is one of the greatest public health challenges of our lifetime.
According to UNAIDS and WHO statistics, in 2007, 33.2 million people globally
were estimated to be living with HIV. Given the size and geographical spread of
HIV/AIDS, a well coordinated international effort is required in order to study
variations in the disease between populations and to identify optimal treatment
and prevention strategies across a spectrum of contexts. In developing
countries, successful initiatives must combine an extensive knowledge of
retroviral biology, human immunology, and geographically defined microbial
milieus with a keen understanding of local cultures, economies and health care
infrastructures. A myriad of barriers to the optimal delivery of services to
affected populations must also be addressed, while remaining vigilant to the
ethical dimensions of implementing treatment and prevention programs in
resource-limited settings. Thus, the very nature of the HIV/AIDS epidemic
requires that knowledge and information be combined and translated across
multiple ethnic, cultural, economic and religious groups. This necessitates
integrated communication and efficient, bi-directional sharing of data among
collaborating provider and researcher networks in East Africa. Indeed, reliable
data and information sharing has repeatedly been cited as the single most cost
effective and achievable strategy for sustainable improvement in health care in
developing countries, particularly in support of HIV care. East African IeDEA is
utilizing data collected in an array of HIV clinical venues to address the
following issues:
- Cost-effectiveness of HIV care, treatment, and prevention strategies
- Appropriate guidelines for initiation of first-line therapy for treatment
of HIV/AIDS
- Genetic variability of HIV
- Issues related to first-line therapy failure
- Adherence to HIV treatment
- Contextual issues and resource limitations of HIV care delivery in
resource-limited settings
- Impact of tuberculosis infection on HIV/AIDS care and treatment in
developing world
- Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV
- Issues in the treatment and management of HIV-infected children
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