MEDIA ALERT:
Contact: Andrea Pontiroli - 335 8489 761 http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/events/symposiums/2008/aids/
MIND THE GAPS: AIDS TREATMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF HEALTH CARE WORKER SHORTAGES
A Médecins Sans Frontières Satellite Meeting at the XVII International AIDS Conference, Mexico City 2008.
MSF invites you to a satellite meeting on the impact of health care worker shortages on access to HIV/AIDS treatment and lessons learned from clinicians and advocates working on the ground to overcome this gap.
When and Where:
Press Conference: August 3, 2008 at 8 a.m., Melia Reforma Hotel, Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City, Mexico. Coffee and breakfast will be served.
Satellite Meeting: August 3, 2008, 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m., Melia Reforma Hotel, Paseo de la Reforma Mexico City, Mexico (Open to media and public)
Why:
An estimated 70 percent of people who need antiretroviral treatment are still not getting it. One barrier to access to treatment is the critical shortage of health care workers. This shortage contributes to unnecessary illness and death, yet acknowledgement of the human resource crisis has not yet translated into strategies and funding to stimulate needed change.
This half-day satellite meeting preceding the opening ceremonies of the International AIDS Conference organized by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)?will include reports on efforts to expand and uphold quality of AIDS treatment in the context of severe shortage of health care workers and critical discussions among experts and AIDS activists about possible policy shifts needed to confront one of the largest barriers to scale-up and quality AIDS treatment.
*SPEAKERS AVAILABLE FOR MEDIA INTERVIEWS THROUGHOUT THE DAY
Speakers include:
Dr. Mphu Ramatlapeng, Honourable Minister of Health & Social Welfare, Lesotho Stephen Lewis, Co-Director, AIDS-FREE World
Vuyiseka Dubula, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), South Africa
Paul Kasonkomona, Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign (TALC), Zambia Asia Russell, Health GAP
Dr. Jenifer Kavuma, Health Workforce Advocacy Forum (HWAF), Uganda
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