Indiana University Program Receives $1.6M Federal Grant To Provide Treatment, Care to HIV-Positive Kenyans
A program established 14 years ago by Indiana University physicians to fight HIV/AIDS in Kenya has received a $1.6 million grant from USAID that will allow the program to provide treatment to about 15,000 HIV-positive Kenyans, the AP/Indianapolis Star reports (AP/Indianapolis Star, 2/5). Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made the announcement on Thursday (Indiana University School of Medicine release, 2/5). Over the past two years, doctors from the Indiana University School of Medicine, the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and the Moi University Faculty of Health Sciences have treated about 2,000 HIV-positive adults and children in Kenya through the Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment for HIV/AIDS, or AMPATH program. Until now, the program has been financed largely by private donations, but the federal grant will allow a nearly eight-fold increase in the program's caseload, according to the AP/Star. With the new money, the doctors over the next five years plan to establish HIV prevention and treatment programs in two additional rural communities in Kenya. AMPATH Director Dr. Robert Einterz said that the "tireless efforts" of IU physicians and "years of support" from many private donors in Indiana have contributed to the success of the program. Since 1990, more than 600 IU students, residents and faculty members have worked in Kenya to care for HIV/AIDS patients, according to IU spokesperson Pamela Perry. The AMPATH program also operates a program that has trained more than 90 traditional birth attendants to care for HIV-positive pregnant women to help them reduce the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission. In addition, the program provides AIDS education to community support groups and runs a 10-acre farm to provide "high quality nutrition" to HIV-positive families, according to the AP/Star (AP/Indianapolis Star, 2/5).
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