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HIV/AIDS course for Durban health workers
Xoliswa Zulu. 11 January 2006. The Mercury. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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Health professionals have just two weeks to register for an innovative, decentralised graduate clinical HIV/AIDS management course offered at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine in Durban.
The course was developed by Dr Sandy Pillay, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and is aimed at practitioners managing HIV-positive patients. Applications for the course close at the end of January. HIV/AIDS has infected more than 6 million people in South Africa, and in KwaZulu-Natal, the province hardest hit by the epidemic, it contributes to 39.4 percent of deaths.
The course ?– a masters programme ?– was designed to satisfy the needs of health practitioners by providing up-to-date and practical information about the management of HIV and to develop skills of critical analysis. Pillay said that HIV/AIDS was fairly new and nurses and doctors had not had formal training to enable them to deal with the disease.
?“This is the largest chronic disease in South Africa and many health professionals feel overwhelmed by this new and rapidly changing field of clinical practice and the challenges of providing good care for HIV-infected patients.
?“HIV is not an easy illness to treat. It is a complicated illness . . . If health professionals are not trained to know how to cope, they will be doing a disservice to the community.?”
Pillay said the course would help health professionals manage, treat, diagnose and recognise the signs of HIV/AIDS and would help them ensure that they take the time to put the necessary safety measures in place. Health Department spokeswoman Mbali Thusi said any capacity-building and training programme would help health professionals immensely. She said the department was also assisting health professionals in that regard.
?“The provincial department of health has established a human resource support unit made up of four components, which include occupational health, the employee assistance programme, gender focal point and HIV/AIDS in the workplace.
?“This provides a holistic approach for staff to manage the epidemic and this helps promote wellness to staff. Currently, a formal policy is being produced . . . It gives a mandate to the department to care for staff and will be rolled out to health institution level.?” |
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