Grants to Improve Global HIV Healthcare

HIV/AIDS is hitting women very hard, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. More than 2.5 million women acquire HIV infection each year and about 1.5 million die annually from AIDS-related complications. Although significant progress has been made in preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission (MTCT), most of the women with HIV infection receive no treatment and die quickly.

The Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center (FXBC) continues working globally to slow the epidemic. Several new awards will expand efforts in this arena. Mary G. Boland, DrPH, RN, co-director of FXBC, recently received a $700,000, two-year grant from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University to serve as the training and technical assistance component of the Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission Plus (MTCT+) Care Initiative. The
Initiative, developed by an international group of private foundations and coordinated by the Mailman School, is committed to raising $100 million in new funding for a five-year demonstration project providing life-long care and treatment for more than 10,000 HIV-positive mothers and their families at sites in Africa and Thailand. The initiative will build on existing programs to prevent MTCT. The UMDNJ grant monies will underwrite knowledge transfer and capacity development to support the MTCT-Plus initiative.

On behalf of UMDNJ, Boland received a recent five-year grant for $4 million from the CDC that will support international efforts to reduce perinatal HIV transmission and improve HIV/AIDS healthcare by expanding and improving services already existing in the targeted countries. This initiative builds on the initial work of Carolyn K. Burr, EdD, RN.

An additional grant of $3 million, from the Health Resources & Service Administration, HIV/AIDS Bureau of the USDHSS, will underwrite the efforts of FXBC to educate and train health professionals in the U.S. working with existing and emerging groups affected by HIV. FXBC will serve as the National Resource Center for the AIDS Education and Training Centers (AETC). Under the leadership of Linda S. Podhurst, PhD, principal investigator, the NRC will provide education and training resources to the AETC national network and serve as the focal point for perinatal and pediatric HIV activities.

FXBC was established in 1989 with funds donated by the Countess Albina du Boisrouvray after she saw a movie on the work of James M. Oleske, MD, MPH, a UMDNJ–New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) pediatric AIDS specialist. Delivering community-based, child-centered and family-focused HIV/AIDS care is the mission of the Center, which also conducts drug trials and laboratory research, and trains healthcare professionals from around the world. FXBC, led by Oleske and Boland, is a collaborative effort of UMDNJ's School of Nursing and NJMS.