Physician training program in Botswana
(Photo: Tom Maday (c)2005)
Merck supports HIV/AIDS clinical training programs for African physicians to help strengthen local health care capacity. Since 1997, more than 2,200 African physicians from 24 countries have participated in clinical HIV training through local workshops, regional and international scientific conferences and clinical preceptorships.
Merck has worked to improve physician training in other parts of the world, as well. In Latin America, technicians and clinicians have gained significant cutting-edge technical experience from participating in Merck-sponsored HIV/AIDS vaccine and integrase inhibitor clinical trials in Brazil. And in China, Merck is applying the expertise gained in other regions of the world to help develop a comprehensive approach to HIV/AIDS that will work in part to enhance healthcare worker training and patient management skills.
A few examples of our work to help build health care capacity in developing countries are included below.
The National Aids Control Program in Rwanda
The National Aids Control Program in Rwanda has been the recipient of continuous Merck support since 1998 with the goal to strengthen local HIV expertise and HIV-related care and services. Through this support 12 Rwandan physicians received training on ARV therapy and HIV care. Today, these physicians serve as the referral physicians for ARV therapy in Rwanda at the tertiary level. Merck has also supported local workshops/conferences on HIV-related issues including: counseling/caring for HIV patients on ARV therapy or at the latest stage of the disease (40 nurses and other health care workers), HIV/AIDS care for physicians and health care workers from the public and private sector and HIV prevention and care (200 healthcare professionals at the secondary level of care, representing each of the 34 district hospitals). With the goal of significantly enhancing HIV care in rural settings, these HIV-trained health care professionals have helped to train 365 of their colleagues from primary health care centers nationwide. And, in 1999, Merck provided the National Reference Laboratory with viral load kits for the free testing of patients on ARV therapy.
The local capacity-building enabled by Merck’s support of The National Aids Control Program has played an instrumental role in improving HIV/AIDS care and treatment in Rwanda. Since 2002, the number of patients on ARV therapy has increased from 1,200 to more than 22,000.
The Regional AIDS Initiative of Southern Africa (RAISA)
For several years, Merck has supported the Regional AIDS Initiative of Southern Africa (RAISA), a project of the organization Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). RAISA seeks to strengthen the capacity of in-country partners to respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic by providing the building blocks to develop programmes and co-ordinate efforts. Through the expertise and in-country relationships of VSO's volunteer professionals, RAISA works with government institutions and civil society organizations to provide effective prevention, treatment, care and advocacy support for people affected by HIV/AIDS, and to mitigate the personal, social and economic impact of the pandemic. This regional initiative works in Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. RAISA uses its expertise to plan and coordinate rational and appropriate activities which are aimed directly to help patients living with HIV/AIDS cope with the disease. These co-ordinated activities highlight the unique aims of RAISA, and provide evidence of an immediate positive impact. Participants take home with them new practical skills, and are empowered to manage the complex HIV/AIDS environment in the region with hope and best practices for positive living.
Merck-ANADER Partnership Program
Merck is working with the National Agency for the Support to Rural Development in Côte d'Ivoire (ANADER) to support Côte d'Ivoire's response to HIV/AIDS. The partnership initially began with an HIV prevention and workplace care program, including access to ARV treatment for ANADER's 2,500 employees. Since then, ANADER has extended its services to 3.8 million people living in rural areas. Using a participatory tool called "risk mapping," ANADER is improving access to voluntary counseling and testing in mobile units and enhancing referral to AIDS treatment centers in rural areas. Merck has helped ANADER develop a strategic plan and continues to provide support for organizational development and reinforcing its HIV/AIDS workplace program. In addition, Merck assists with resource mobilization, which to date has resulted in an initial grant to ANADER of $4 million from the U.S. Government.
IBANI-SE HIV/AIDS Initiative
Driven by expanding industrial development, Bonny Island in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has become a hive of social activity and mobility, and is a focal point for the regional HIV epidemic in West Africa. Merck is providing technical guidance and is helping to facilitate a community-led, comprehensive HIV/AIDS and malaria program on Bonny Island. The program concentrates on several key areas: behavior modification among vulnerable groups; promoting safe sexual practices, awareness and education in schools; managing sexually transmitted infections; prevention and treatment of malaria; and access to ARV medicines. Particular emphasis is given to operational research, allowing lessons learned to be shared with a broader audience of public health experts and business leaders.
The Merck-AREVA HIV/AIDS Partnership
AREVA is a world energy expert focusing on technological solutions for nuclear power generation and electricity transmission and distribution. In 2004, the company launched an HIV/AIDS workplace program for its employees and dependants with the support of the French Red Cross.
In 2005, AREVA contacted Merck to participate in the development of a co-investment project with the government of Niger, the Global Fund and ESTHER (Ensemble pour une Solidarité Thérapeutique Hospitalière en Réseau). This project, still at an early stage, aims at improving access to HIV/AIDS prevention, voluntary counseling and testing, care and treatment for the population of Arlit, a mining town in the north of Niger, and the surrounding area.
Business to Business: Blueprint for Business Action
To help small and medium-sized companies develop and implement a comprehensive HIV/AIDS workplace program, Merck has developed a Blueprint for Business Action against HIV/AIDS. Designed by an editorial board composed of African HIV/AIDS experts, and with input from more than 10 national business coalitions against HIV/AIDS, this simple and user-friendly tool is based on seven practical modules. The Blueprint is one of the very few resources to be adapted for use in French-speaking African companies. It will be launched in Africa in Fall 2006.
In addition to these efforts, Merck supports the HIV/AIDS Initiative of the Corporate Council on Africa, which is working with the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and other partners to establish national business councils on HIV/AIDS in Francophone Africa.
For more examples of how Merck helps build health care capacity in other developing countries, please see Merck's Commitment to HIV/AIDS
To learn more about Merck's commitment to addressing HIV/AIDS, click on the links below:
