"On the Horizon" is an electronic news capsule from the Horizons Program.
Horizons (<http://www.popcouncil.org/horizons/horizons.html>) is a global
operations research program designed to:

1) Identify and test potential strategies to improve HIV/AIDS prevention,
care, and support programs and service delivery.

2) Disseminate research findings and promote their utilization with the aim
of replicating and scaling up successful interventions.


Investing in AIDS Care and Support Programs:
Horizons Research Shows That Small Investments Pay Big Dividends

(WASHINGTON, DC) May 15, 2003 - Professionals from the frontlines of the
AIDS pandemic shared techniques to successfully meet the needs of people
living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) at a symposium here on Tuesday.

Studies show that resource-poor communities can launch and improve care and
support programs by using innovating strategies and relatively modest donor
support. The speakers, including a Catholic nun from Zambia and two Indian
physicians, described effective programs in place today. The Population
Council's Horizons program, which sponsored the symposium, is funded by the
US Agency for International Development to conduct HIV/AIDS operations
research.

Key "how to's" that make a difference in the lives of PLHA include:

*       Training youth to help care for PLHA in their homes.

Sister Petronella Bwuepe and Council researcher Eka Esu-Williams discussed
training youth in rural communities in Zambia to help families affected by
AIDS provide nursing and psychological support to PLHA. The experience gives
young people a way to help communities and learn more about PLHA. These
relationships lead to less stigmatization throughout the communities and
also encourage youth to avoid risky behavior.

*       Providing affordable, confidential, and comprehensive services in a
supportive environment.

Dr. Tokugu Yepthomi, an HIV-positive clinician and beneficiary of YRG CARE,
a non-governmental clinic in South India, described his first visit to the
clinic as "seeing light at the end of the tunnel." He highlighted the value
of nonjudgmental staff and comprehensive care, including psychological and
nutritional counseling, as helping him live positively with the disease. Dr.
Toku also presented findings from a Horizons study that corroborated his
personal experience. The quality of life of more than a hundred patients
improved over an 18-month period, even for those in an advanced stage of the
disease and even for those not on anti-retroviral therapy.

Dr. Suniti Solomon, the director of YRG CARE, noted that patients in the
study reported a decrease in the number of illness episodes, the number of
workdays lost, and in health-related expenditures since coming to YRG CARE.

*       Involving health care workers in decisions about how to make
hospitals more welcoming of PLHA.

Stigma and discrimination in the Indian health care system forces PLHA to
endure medical care delays or denial, and segregation or isolation in
hospitals. The Population Council's Vaishali Sharma Mahendra shared research
aimed at identifying causes and manifestations of stigma and discrimination
in three New Delhi hospitals. The research team shared the findings with all
levels of staff, which catalyzed them to develop action plans to improve the
situation and to use a simple checklist to monitor progress towards the
achievement of a "PLHA-friendly" hospital.

Horizons Program Director Andy Fisher concluded: "It takes a lot of will,
not necessarily a lot of money, to improve care and support services. Much
can be accomplished through local efforts. We need to continue sharing
information about successes so service providers can implement successful
programs."

Horizons is implemented by the Population Council in collaboration with the
International Center for Research on Women, the International HIV/AIDS
Alliance, Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, Tulane University,
Johns Hopkins University, and Family Health International.

A webcast of the event and comprehensive information is available online at
<http://www.popcouncil.org/horizons/mtgs/dccrspprt03.html>.

The Population Council is an international, nonprofit, nongovernmental
research organization that seeks to improve the well-being and reproductive
health of current and future generations around the world and to help
achieve a humane, equitable, and sustainable balance between people and
resources. The Council conducts biomedical, social science, and public
health research and helps build research capacities in developing countries.
Established in 1952, the Council is governed by an international board of
trustees. Its New York headquarters supports a global network of regional
and country offices.

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