In The News
World AIDS Day 2010
On this World AIDS Day, Accordia Global Health Foundation salutes the thousands of health workers, community advocates, and patient volunteers who are dedicated to fighting a pandemic that has resulted in more than 25 million deaths and infected 60 million people worldwide.
The intensive efforts of the past two decades by multilateral organizations, governments, foundations, corporations, and individuals to reduce the suffering caused by infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria in Africa are beginning to yield results. Better prevention and diagnostic tools have been created, new treatments have been developed and made widely available, and over a million lives have been saved. Twenty-two African countries have now reduced new HIV infection rates by more than 25%.
But there are still major challenges to overcome before the continent’s population can look forward to better health outcomes for all. The emergency actions of the world’s response to one after another infectious disease crisis must now begin to be replaced by the development of strong, permanent healthcare systems in Africa, led—at all levels—by African healthcare providers, managers, researchers, and academics. It is essential that this leadership be developed to scale up existing programs, sustain efforts that are proving successful and eliminate those that are not, conduct and interpret new research, and develop new interventions where they are necessary.
What is needed is a bold, sustained approach to improving health in Africa that includes an explicit emphasis on the development of leading individuals, institutions, and the networks that connect them, bringing together expertise from around the region and globe to drive fundamental change. This will require a paradigm shift toward a more effective, intentional approach to the development of leaders. It will also require investment of substantial resources both to prepare individuals and institutions for leadership roles in healthcare policy, education, research, and service delivery and to create an enabling environment in which new leaders can thrive.
Over the last decade, Accordia Global Health Foundation and our partners have empowered thousands of Africans to fight HIV and other infectious diseases through the Infectious Diseases Institute in Uganda, a center of excellence in research, training, prevention, and advanced clinical care. These dedicated leaders – nurses, doctors, researchers, patients, activists, lab technicians, data specialists, community health workers and many others – are improving the quality of life across the region as they teach, treat, and inspire others.
Accordia is committed to fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic alongside these committed individuals, and we hope that you will join us in this quest to create a vibrant, healthy Africa.
