IU gets $60M grant for AIDS program

Treating and preventing AIDS is only part of the partnership that flourishes between the IU School of Medicine and Kenya’s Moi University Teaching and \nReferral Hospital. \nIn addition to administering antiretroviral drugs to HIV/AIDS patients and teaching the importance of sex’s ABCs – abstinence, be faithful in marriage and condoms – the partnership encourages gender equality and empowering women, said Dr. Robert Einterz, associate dean for international affairs at the School of Medicine and co-founder of the IU-Moi partnership. \nThe program, Academic Model for Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS, received a $60 million grant from the federal government on Nov. 19 to continue its AIDS efforts in Kenya, Einterz said.\nThe grant comes from the United States Agency for International Development, a federal organization that encourages U.S. involvement in developing countries, and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which provides funding and support for AIDS prevention and treatment efforts in Kenya, according to an IU press release. \n“Depending on the area of the country, about 7 percent, or 140,000 people, in Kenya are HIV/AIDS-positive,” Einterz said.\nOut of that number, nearly 60,000 have been treated as a result of the AMPATH program, he said.\nKenyan organizers mostly run AMPATH, Einterz said, although there are several IU students and researchers who participate in the program.\n“We have 26 HIV clinics across western Kenya that deliver antiretroviral therapy treatments to HIV/AIDS patients,” he said. “The grant money will continue to fund that program in addition to our newest program.” \nOver the next five \nyears, AMPATH will further \ndevelop its latest campaign; \nhome-based counseling and testing to identify persons who have not been tested for AIDS, \nhe said.\nSince 1990, IU has collaborated with Moi University with the goal of stopping the AIDS epidemic in Kenya. \n“The first step (to preventing AIDS) is to care for the persons infected by HIV,” he said. “This opens the door to prevention and treatment.”\nFor the AMPATH program, post-identification treatment includes more than the \nantiretroviral treatment, Einterz said. \nEducation and identification of HIV/AIDS-infected persons is a huge part of treatment, especially with the introduction of the home-based counseling and testing program, he said.\n“It’s so important for people to know their HIV/AIDS status and their partner’s status,” Einterz said. “With the home-based testing, we go door-to-door and test people in their homes for the disease.”