SYDNEY, Australia, July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today
Bristol-Myers Squibb announced a new approach to expand its SECURE THE
FUTURE(R) program in the developing world through replicating its most
successful HIV treatment support programs in partnership with governments,
community groups and other funders. The initiative will provide a
practical, step-by-step guide and the expertise of SECURE THE FUTURE staff
to create effective HIV treatment support programs based on methods proven
successful even in the poorest, most remote areas of Africa. The program is
already being replicated in Mali, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.
The aim is to enable others to take advantage of the lessons learned by
SECURE THE FUTURE from eight years of work fighting HIV/AIDS in some of the
most resource constrained areas of Africa. The experiences of a five-site
demonstration project coordinated by SECURE THE FUTURE in partnership with
governments, district hospitals and civil society in Botswana, Lesotho,
Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa are documented in the manual.
Higher CD4 counts, better adherence to drug regimens, reduced hospital
bed occupancy, reduced in-hospital AIDS-related deaths and better quality
of life are all documented outcomes of the treatment support program.
Closely monitored and rigorously evaluated, the program paired medical care
and treatment with a variety of community support programs including
home-based care, targeted and broad-based community mobilization and
education, psychosocial supports, nutritional resources, income generating
projects and buddy programs.
"With community support, a patient is more likely to seek testing and
treatment, will be better prepared to begin and adhere to antiretroviral
therapy, is less likely to default on treatment and is more likely to have
a better clinical outcome," said Phangisile Mtshali, director of the
Bristol- Myers Squibb Foundation, who oversaw implementation of the SECURE
THE FUTURE program in southern Africa through 2006. The program, launched
by Bristol- Myers Squibb in 1999, has grown to a $150 million commitment in
12 African countries with special emphasis on community treatment support
programs, care for children and building infrastructure.
At the International AIDS Society conference in Sydney, SECURE THE
FUTURE representatives offered a public health tool entitled SECURE THE
FUTURE Manual: Seven Steps to Involve the Community in HIV/AIDS Treatment
Support Programs (First Edition). The guide shows how to establish
antiretroviral treatment programs that integrate community supports to
assure that the patient receives assistance at home and in the community as
well as at the clinic. It provides field-tested tools to help communities
adapt and implement the model of care and monitor and evaluate its impact
on the patient. The manual includes full case studies from communities that
implemented the model.
"This manual is a practical, how-to guide to integrate efforts of
clinicians and community workers. It shows how each can add value to the
other's work, sharing information about clients' progress and needs through
case management tools," said Patricia Doykos Duquette, director of the
Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation and co-author of the manual. "For example,
home-based care workers can be alerted when a patient fails to appear for a
scheduled clinic visit. When a clinic nutritionist identifies a
malnourished patient, the community partnering program can provide food
parcels so important to successful treatment." The manual is available
online at http://www.bms.com/foundation or by sending an email request to
patricia.duquette@bms.com.
Bristol-Myers Squibb and SECURE THE FUTURE staffs are available to
consult with governments and community groups on replication of the model.
They will provide technical support to groups seeking to develop their own
programs.
Since 2003, SECURE THE FUTURE has operated five community-based
treatment support sites. By April 2007, the sites had enrolled more than
17,000 patients, with over 8,000 on antiretroviral treatment. The model
places equal emphasis on supporting the needs of patients receiving
antiretroviral treatment and patients whose disease has not yet progressed
to warrant treatment.
A rigorously conducted evaluation of the five sites by Family Health
International showed that HIV-positive patients who received integrated
medical care and broad-based community support achieved and sustained
improved clinical outcomes. For instance, at the sites, community
mobilization led to a rapid uptake of clinical services, an improved
community response to HIV/AIDS, a reduction in stigma surrounding the
disease and better adherence with treatment.
Zengani Chirwa, M.D., chief medical officer for Mapilelo, the SECURE
THE FUTURE funded community-based treatment support center in Caprivi,
Namibia, said, "The provision of support programs by community groups
greatly enhances clinical treatment outcomes. For example, the SECURE THE
FUTURE demonstration centers recorded higher CD4 counts in patients who
received medical treatment and community supports. Monitoring shows that
those who were receiving community supports recorded a CD4 count after 12
months averaging 326 compared to 268 for those who did not receive the
supports. That measurement is a very important indicator of a person's
health status, with higher counts indicating a greater ability to fight
infection."
At both the Caprivi and Bobonong centers, Chirwa noted that the
hospital bed occupancy rate was reduced by 50 percent with the combination
community supports to medical care.
Governments and community groups are already spearheading efforts to
replicate the SECURE THE FUTURE centers. The first replication program was
created by SECURE THE FUTURE in the Koulikoro region of Mali at the request
of local experts in partnership with the national government in 2005. To
date, over 5,000 people have been tested, with 374 HIV-positive patients
enrolled in the program and 214 receiving antiretroviral treatment. The
Koulikoro Reference Health Center offers community outreach and education,
food programs and home-based care through local non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations and association of
People Living with HIV/AIDS.
In Namibia, the Mapilelo Project, in partnership with the national
government and local community-based organizations, opened a new center
this April in Kavango, Nankudu, Namibia. The Nankudu District Hospital and
four primary health clinics offer medical treatment and community support
to approximately 900 patients.
In Bambisana in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, the
Bambisanani NGO began partnering with the local district hospital in
February to provide community support, including home-based care and food
security to 1,400 HIV- positive patients on antiretroviral medicines. With
SECURE THE FUTURE funding, Bambisanani has also opened two centers to
assist 50 orphans and vulnerable children in the district, because of the
escalating number of children negatively impacted by the disease.
In Swaziland, the national government, in partnership with SECURE THE
FUTURE, is replicating the PORECO model of Prevention-of-Mother-to-Child
Transmission Program Plus that has been validated in Mbabane. The
replication project, in the Northern Hhohho region, will serve up to 3,000
pregnant women, their newborn children and their partners by providing
community support and intensive patient tracking throughout pregnancy,
delivery and postnatal care. The continuum of care continues after the
child's birth with pediatric care for the newborn facilitated by the
Pediatric AIDS Corps doctors, a program funded through the SECURE THE
FUTURE and Baylor College of Medicine collaboration.
The SECURE THE FUTURE manual was co-authored by Sebastian Wanless,
M.D., medical director of SECURE THE FUTURE, Duquette and Mtshali, the
project managers who implemented the programs, along with assistance of the
Bristol- Myers Squibb Foundation staff, and I-TECH, the International
Training and Education Center on HIV. I-TECH is a joint project of the
University of Washington and the University of California San Francisco.
I-TECH was established in 2002 as part of the President's Emergency Plan
for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) by the Health Resources and Services
Administration in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention and USAID.
Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global pharmaceutical and healthcare products
company whose mission is to extend and enhance human life. Visit
Bristol-Myers Squibb at http://www.bms.com.
SOURCE Bristol-Myers Squibb
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Related links:
http://www.bms.com
http://www.bms.com/foundation
CONTACT:
Becky Taylor, office, +1-609-252-4476, cell,
+61-414-016-443, rebecca.taylor@bms.com, or Stephen Haynes,
office, +65-6346-9425, cell, +65-9018-8314,
stephen.haynes@bms.com, or Michael Moore, office,
+61-3-9213-4349, cell, +61-40-77-59253, michael.j.moore@bms.com,
all of Bristol-Myers Squibb
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