Clinton Foundation-Yale University Select Fellows For Ethiopia HIV/AIDS Initiative

Twenty-three fellows chosen by the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative and Yale University Ethiopian Hospital Management Initiative (EHMI) to help improve the hospital management system in Ethiopia will begin orientation June 20-24 at Yale and continue July 4-6 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The EHMI began at the request of Tedros Adhanom Ghebeysus, the Ethiopian Minister of Health, as part of efforts by the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative to expand and improve treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS.

The 23 Fellows, selected from among 150 applicants during the recruitment period spearheaded by Yale's Elizabeth H. Bradley, professor of public health, and Martha Dale, lecturer in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale School of Medicine and executive director of Leeway, Inc., are from the United States and several other countries. They will comprise part of the Yale-Clinton Foundation Fellowship in International Healthcare Management.

These healthcare management professionals, including Fellowship Project Director Tim Dentry, will spend one year working side-by-side with directors of 12 public hospitals and health bureaus in Ethiopia. With their Ethiopian partners, this group will identify systemic changes that can improve access and delivery of health care services to the population of 76 million people.

Bradley, director of the project at Yale said, "We are extremely excited by the diverse team of Fellows. We are certain they will provide the necessary skills to complement their Ethiopian partners and make great strides toward improving the hospital system."

The Yale-Clinton team orientation, led by Yale assistant professor Kari Hartwig and lecturer Marguerite Callaway, is currently preparing to welcome the Fellows to the program and provide necessary information to jumpstart the program.

"The orientations in both New Haven and Addis Ababa will be a great way for the Fellows to learn more about the program and each other," said W. Edward Wood, Special Advisor to the Chairman, Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative.

"A major thrust of the Hospital Management Initiative will be to use the combined talents of the Fellows, along with their on-the-ground experience in 12 Ethiopian hospitals, to fashion a set of systems which can be installed in hospital facilities across Ethiopia over the next five years," Wood added. We will begin this process immediately during the orientation sessions and continue building throughout the year."

Since 2002, the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative has been assisting countries in implementing large-scale integrated care, treatment and prevention programs. The initiative partners with 20 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Asia. Individual governments take the lead and the Foundation provides technical assistance, mobilizes human and financial resources, and facilitates the sharing of best practices across projects. The Foundation also provides access to reduced prices for HIV/AIDS drugs and diagnostics to over 50 countries.

The HIV/AIDS Initiative launched pediatric and rural programs in April 2005. The pediatric program assists countries in implementing widespread treatment for children living with HIV/AIDS. In the first year, programs to donate ARV treatment for 10,000 children will approximately double the number on treatment in developing countries outside of Brazil and Thailand. The rural program extends access to high-quality care and treatment to people living beyond the reach of traditional healthcare services; in Rwanda, the rural program partners with Partners In Health.

The HIV/AIDS Initiative relies on hundreds of part-time and full-time volunteers. There are presently more than 300 people in developing countries and the U.S. working for the Initiative.

For his leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS, President Clinton has been honored with the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Award for Humanitarian Contributions to the Health of Humankind from the National Foundation for Infectious Disease as well as the 2005 Pasteur Foundation Humanitarian Award.
Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com