As the public sector roll-out of antiretroviral treatment for HIV has accelerated, there has been a rapidly increasing demand for training in the management of HIV and AIDS.

Felicity Cope - Training Coordinator

In response to this, the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation established a training unit in January 2004 and has become actively engaged in the training and equipping of health care professionals, lay counsellors and educators to meet the challenges of HIV care and prevention. 

The Mentorship Programme

The training unit has provided expert assistance in various provinces within South Africa through long-distance mentorship programmes for newly established antiretroviral treatment clinics. 

In partnership with the Northern Cape Province, the foundation conducted training in a number of antiretroviral treatment sites and is currently involved in a medical education programme in the Eden District of the Southern Cape. This started in 2004 and involved regular trips to Plettenburg Bay, Knysna, George, Mossel Bay and Outshoorn, during which doctors, nurses and counsellors were given on-site training. 

The Eden District mentorship programme for 2007 is structured in the form of a series of one-day workshops, covering various aspects of HIV treatment and care. 

The HIV Educational Programme (HEP)

In 2006, the training unit developed a distance learning tool to address the urgent need to train the thousands of health care professional who will have to manage HIV infected patients in primary care facilities in Southern Africa. 

Aimed primarily at nurses and counsellors, the educational approach and layout of the HIV Education Programme (HEP) is based on the very successful and well documented Perinatal Education Programme (PEP) which has been used by over 50 000 doctors, nurses and medical students in Southern Africa to improve the care of mothers and infants. 

Using a question-and-answer approach, followed by case studies, HEP enables groups of health care workers to manage their own continuing education. It is based on the principles of co-operative learning and peer tuition, with participants studying each module on their own and then meeting to discuss the contents with other local participants. The learning material is based on current South African national protocols, and the content has been extensively reviewed and validated by experts in the field.

The main advantages of HEP are that it does not require a tutor, nor do participants have to leave their place of employment to attend classes and it is hoped that this approach will complement more formal in-service courses. This project will be piloted and evaluated in the Eastern Cape, prior to extending it to other facilities in Southern Africa.

Dr Catherine Orrell, training in the Northern Cape.

Therapeutic Counsellor Training

The training of therapeutic counsellors began with the work of the Sizophila counseling project at the Hannan Crusaid Clinic in 2002, in which HIV positive patients were trained as peer counselors to provide adherence and social support for patients at the antiretroviral treatment centre. 

The success of this project lead to numerous requests for counselor training and a formal course has been developed, consisting of an introductory week for those without basic counseling and HIV training and a further two weeks of advanced instruction specifically for HIV therapeutic counselors. A separate three day intensive ARV training course is available for Community Health Workers. 

The course curriculum contains modules on: 
• Prevention of HIV
• The Human Immune System
• HIV Progression and Staging
• Opportunistic Diseases
• An Introduction to Antiretrovirals
• Antiretroviral Drugs and the Side Effects and 
• Adherence Strategies.

For further information, please contact
training@hiv-research.org.za