Foundation Releases Toolkit to Help Implement New WHO Guidelines on HIV Prevention and Treatment
Posted by
Robert Yule
Vienna, Austria
July 24, 2010
Panelists introduce Phase 1 of the toolkit at a session during
the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria.
The World Health Organization has just released
recommendations that reflect the latest scientific evidence for preventing new HIV infections in infants, and treating children, adolescents, and adults living with the virus.
They place a new emphasis on treatment for pregnant HIV-positive women, and
recommend extended antiretroviral drugs to protect infants exposed to HIV throughout the time that they breastfeed.
These new guidelines will be incredibly important to help the Foundation in its mission to eliminate pediatric HIV and AIDS, and secure the health of children, mothers, and families worldwide.
In the past, there have been significant delays and challenges in adopting WHO guidelines at the country level. To accelerate and improve the process, the Foundation has produced a
three-part toolkit to assist its technical partners and Ministries of Health.
Phase 1 of the toolkit -- "Understanding the Revised WHO Recommendations and Supporting Their Adaptation into National Guidelines" -- was introduced this week in Vienna at the XVIII International AIDS Conference, at a session sponsored by Johnson & Johnson.
Panel presentations convened by the Foundation discussed the way forward, and included speakers from the WHO and the Ministries of Health of Kenya, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.
The Foundation has also produced one of the
first publications to explore the implications of the revised guidelines from an implementation perspective, and has compiled experiences adapting the guidelines from its country programs.
The second phase of the toolkit dealing with implementing the guidelines on a programmatic, district, and facility level will be released next, followed by the third phase on measuring their impact.
Robert Yule is the Foundation’s Media Manager in Washington, D.C., but reporting from Vienna, Austria, at the AIDS 2010 conference.