South African Electricity Company Pledges Money To Train Doctors To Treat HIV/AIDS
South African electricity company Eskom has committed more than $750,000 to train doctors to treat HIV/AIDS in the country, SAPA/SABCnews.com reports. The money will be spent over the next three years on the HIV/AIDS Training Program for Medical Practitioners, which aims to increase knowledge of the disease among health care professionals. The program is managed by the Foundation of Professional Development and the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society and targets the Southern African Development Community region. The training program will focus on 16,000 out of 22,000 practicing health care workers who were trained before the 1990s and who were "unable to effectively treat an HIV/AIDS patient," according to Gustaaf Wolvaardt, executive director of the Foundation of Professional Development. Eskom will host a workshop in March or April for government officials, business executives and representatives from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the World Economic Forum to discuss the formation of partnerships to fight the disease. Two weeks ago, Eskom donated nearly $9.5 million to the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAPA/SABCnews.com, 2/25).
This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.