Central American Universities Implement Standardized HIV Training for Health Workers

More than 20 higher education institutions across Central America have integrated a new HIV curriculum into their nursing, medical, or other health professional training programs thanks to IntraHealth International’s work on the USAID-funded Central America Capacity Project. The training curriculum—which covers a full range of HIV prevention and treatment services, including HIV counseling and testing, reduction of HIV stigma and discrimination, adherence to antiretroviral therapy, biosafety, and post-exposure prophylaxis—is the first of its kind in the region. IntraHealth International helped create this standard HIV-specific training curriculum for health workers and worked with educational institutions in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Panama to introduce the material into their preservice training programs. The curriculum will ensure health workers in the region graduate with the knowledge and skills they need to deliver high-quality HIV treatment, care, and support for people living with HIV. Central America’s HIV epidemic is still relatively localized and concentrated in high-risk groups such as men who have sex with men, sex workers, and transgender women. In Belize, for example, HIV prevalence among ages 15–49 is 1.4% (the highest among the five countries) while HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men is 13.9%. Lack of knowledge about HIV, widespread stigma of the disease, discrimination against key populations at ...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news