Archive
July 30, 2004
Washington, DC
I came into the conference room at Howard University Health Sciences Library expecting few surprises. The comfortable black chairs were there. The strange-looking gadgets on the table seemed not to have stirred from their positions.The videoscreen on the wall had four compartments. The top right one was occupied by the physician from Mayo clinic whose name could be translated into " Thank you for Eternity" or the samething in reverse. The Howard crew which was made up of Dr. Getachew, Dr.Bisrat, Dr.Danil, Dr.Tedla and one other guest, if you do not count the technician and the unofficial reporter, conquered the lower two.I rubbed my eyes and squinted at the screen to find where the spot showing Atlanta, Georgia was hiding. Where was Dr. Solomon Negash? They havn't trained another wizard of computers in just a few weeks, have they?
The hall in Ethiopia was completely full. On the right front side, a huge table was seen draped with a GREEN-YELLOW-RED banner from top to bottom. Another beautiful flag hugged the wall on the left side. Next to it loomed a huge blue banner commanding immediate and sustained attention." Enquan des yalachihu! " ( Cogratulations!) was written in white. It was minutes before the start of the ceremony. A familar voice and image was floating in the screen showing the meeting site in Addis Abeba. Dr.Solomon Negash! I froze. That man probablly pushed some magical button to tansport himself from Atlanta to Addis in nano-seconds. The Science Fiction of tommorrow came today with Dr.Solomon.
Professor Tsige opened the meeting from Ethiopia. The video-conference for the 27 graduating pharmacists ran for 7 weeks. It was titled Pharmacology of Antiretroviral Therapy and Drugs for Opportunistic Infections. The topics covered included Natural history of HIV disease, Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia, Antiretroviral drugs counseling and adherence, manifestations of HIV disease, and Local responses and Solutions. The program was meant to be the training of trainers.The need to continue the training locally was emphesized.
I learned the Amharic translation of antiretroviral drugs: Ye ech ayvina edse himuman edime marazmiya mdanitoch.
The next speaker was Ato Haile Silassie Bihon. He started by saying that Fighting POVERITY is fighting HIV/AIDS, and fighting HIV/AIDS is fighting POVERTY.Some numbers came out. The estimted people who are thought to need antiretroviral therapy now is 214,000. As to the people who are already on the medications by buying out-of- pocket is around 9000. 686 health professionals have been given education about the drugs in 10 rounds.
Ato HSB disclosed that quite significant amount of money have been secured to start antiretroviral therapy from the various funding agencies. The plan is to start treating 40,000 to 50,000 by October/November 2004. He told the participants that the challeneges are many and there is a huge need for active involvement by the communities in general and those in the diaspora in particular. Ato Alemayehu Lema of Minstry of Health futher elaborated on the plans and informed the particiapnts a good the drugs have been paid for already.
It was time for the unofficial and untrained reporter to leave. On the street, I was Not thinking about the nearby Howard University Hospital and was going in and who was coming out .I was not thinking about the disporopotionately high new infections in blacks and hispanics, or the disproptionately high mortality due to HIV/AIDS in poor and minorities of USA, the richest of the countries in the world. I was not thinking about the silent reports from both USA, UK and elsewhere about the alarmingly increasing primary and secondary resistance to antiretroviral drugs.
With the speed comparable to Dr.Solomon's magic, I flew in thought to the clinics and health centers of Amarressa, Wukiro, Nazareth, Gelemso, Addis Zemen, Enticho, Abomssa, Woldiya, Shashemene, Mojo, Maytsemri, Wolechiti, Alemaya, Metu and others and tried to visualize the challenges and the opporunities in those settings . Antiretroviral therapy can well be seen as a double edged sword. Without adequate attention and inverstment in the other components of comprehensive HIV/AIDS care, like prevention education, VCT, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of opportunistic infections.continued medical education free from marketing pressures of local or international profiteers, documentaion and operational reasearh, cheap, local meeting of providers for exchange of ideas and education, careful surveillance and others, it can lead to more complex problems. But we can't leave all that to governments and well- stringed grants. We have to transport ourselves the old way and by magic and join the fight right in the villages and small towns.
I kept floating over the countryside listening to the sound of the animals and watching the smoke coming out of the huts with thatched roofs. My abondoned legs found their way in the bright-dark streets Washington, DC, underground trains and bus stops leading to the clinic in Maryland. I completely forgot to eat my breakfast. There was no money in my pocket. Hmm, do people write grants for their own breakfast?
Ashenafi Waktola
GROUP AGAINST POVERTY & AIDS (GAP-A)
www.gap-a.org/Videoconfethpharmacists.html
www.gap-a.org/0704.html