Janet Stansky, RN, MS, PhD, Executive Director from the U.S.
Doctors and Nurses for World Health operates six small primary care clinics in Africa. Our Board of Directors has voted to establish programs to provide Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy, or HAART, to our patients with HIV/AIDS. We know that this therapy, often referred to as the "AIDS cocktail," has reduced AIDS deaths in the United States by 73% since the mid-1990's. It is true that anti-retroviral drugs, or ARVs, do not cure AIDS and may cause severe side effects* for some patients. These drugs have, however, resurrected countless patients from their deathbeds, and these people have gained time to raise their families, do their jobs, and contribute to their societies in ways too numerous to be known. HAART is largely unavailable in Africa and the AIDS death toll continues to soar,* ripping apart the fabric of society in many countries across the continent.
We will be relying on donations from private individuals and foundations as well as pharmaceutical corporations to fund our programs and obtain ARVs. However, because many today still feel that it is neither possible** nor desirable** for organizations like ours to provide HAART in poor countries, we will need to make the case that it is not only possible to provide HAART in African nations, but advantageous to do so. Our goal is to establish pilot programs that will effectively and safely treat our patients with HIV/AIDS as well as provide data that can be used to develop evidence based policies for the treatment of patients around the world.
As we plan our programs there are many questions that we will need to consider. For example, at least initially, our clinics will not have enough drugs to treat everyone, so, whom shall we target for treatment and why? How many people can we treat? How and where will we deliver treatment to these patients?
Africa is a vast continent that is characterized by cultural, economic, and political diversity as well as varying levels of infrastructural development. We provide medical care, but we do not work in a vacuum, so please explain how these realities will impact our efforts to address the problem of AIDS in Africa.
*=Essential
**=Greater Depth
***=Advanced Knowledge
| NDWH Home | Janet Stansky | Pierre Dijiba | Lauren Martínez | Martha Khosa | Jack Corelli |